The 2020 Miss America Pageant Won’t Be Held in Atlantic City

There she goes... again.

For the second time in the pageant's storied history, Miss America has dumped Atlantic City. We've just learned that the Miss America Competition will be held at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut this December.

The pageant had been held in Atlantic City for much of its history since its first year in 1940. It was moved to Las Vegas in 2004, but the competition returned to Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in 2013.

The Atlantic City Casino Reinvestment Development Authority's previously signed a contract with the Miss America Organization expired after last year's competition. The most recent deal was a three-year $12 million contract. City officials said they were not "getting enough bang for their buck" in the sponsorship of the pageant, according to a report from NBC10.

Atlantic City officials were, however, believed to have been interested in a cheaper contract that could bring the event to a smaller venue in town. It turns out that didn't happen.

Deadline is now reporting that the 2020 competition will be held on Thursday, December 19 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The news was first reported by Deadline.com

This year's show will also mark a new television home for the show. The competition had been most recently the show was airing on ABC-TV on a Sunday evening in early September.

As a result of the NFL schedule, it was often crushed in television ratings by the NFL's Sunday Night Football broadcast. TheWrap.com reported that the 2018 broadcast had just 5.4 million viewers. 

Deadline.com reports that Miss America will be broadcast on NBC from 8-10 pm ET/PT on Thursday, December 19. The exact terms of the deal between the Miss America Organization and the Mohegan Sun were not immediately clear.