Why Miss America Left Atlantic City?

As much as we would wish otherwise, changing times and trends will have a major effect on popular culture. The legendary Miss America pageant is not immune to the influences of an evolving entertainment landscape and the resort of Atlantic City, NJ must deal with the results. Sadly, after 80 years of tradition, the Miss America pageant is now leaving the city.

The fortunes of the Miss America contest have been on the decline for quite some time now. The television airings of the program once drew audiences in the tens of millions. Over time, the audience gradually declined. There are a number of reasons for this. Competition from reality programs has seriously hampered the ability to sustain its audience. Worst of all, the ability to attract new audience members have not shown any progress. Now, ABC has dropped airing the contest's annual airing from the network’s lineup, which seriously hampered the contest’s ability to garner the needed revenue to go forward. This is no insignificant issue. The Miss America pageant is enormously expensive to produce. The budget of the pageant can run upwards of $500,000 a year and without the revenue generated from the television airing rights eliminated, the pageant organizers cannot fund the budget. One would think that the local casinos would finance the contest, but this has turned out not to be the case.

However, the Miss America Pageant has not folded. It still exists but it will not take place in Atlantic City anymore. Instead, it will go on tour and become a road show of sorts. This could prove to be a huge benefit to cities across America that could benefit from the arrival of the contest. After all, the famous Miss America pageant would mean a lot of publicity for the city it takes place in. This could lead to increased tourism and other benefits. Currently, there are a number of cities that have expressed an interest in hosting the Miss America content. However, no firm offers on any specific locations have been publicized.

If the concept of a touring Miss America contest proves successful, then the contest will survive for many more years. As of right now, this remains the only viable option for the survival of the contest. While the touring concept may prove be a positive for the pageant, it is a major loss for Atlantic City. This is because a many decade tradition is now gone. Yes, there may be a number of locations where the Miss America pageant can be held. But, without the contest taking place in the salty Atlantic Ocean air, the contest just is not going to be the same.

Actually, Miss America will not completely disappear from Atlantic City. In order to be let out of the pageant’s multi-year lease with the city’s convention and visitor center, the eventual Miss America winner will be obligated to appear for the visitor’s bureau for a specified number of dates over the next five years. Hopefully, after the five years expire, the climate will change and the pageant will return to Atlantic City on a permanent basis. Time will tell.