Miss USA

The Miss USA pageant was conceived in 1950 when Yolande Betbeze, winner of the Miss America pageant, refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit. Pageant sponsor Catalina decided to pull their sponsorship of the pageant and create their own competition. Other owners have included a subsidiary of Gulf+Western Industries, ITT Corporation, and Donald Trump.

The first Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were held concurrently in Long Beach, California in 1952; the first Miss USA winner was Miss New York USA Jackie Loughery. There were 30 delegates in the first year of competition. Many states did not compete every year during the first two decades of the pageant’s history. Since the 1970s, each state and the District of Columbia have sent a delegate each year. Alaska first competed in 1959 and Hawaii in 1960. Both had competed at Miss Universe until this time.

The pageant aired on CBS from 1963 until 2002, and for many years was known for having a CBS game show host as pageant host. John Charles Daly hosted the show from 1963 to 1966, Bob Barker from 1967 (he was not a regular for the CBS network until 1972 when he became the host of The Price Is Right which he hosted until 2007) until 1987 (at which point he quit in a dispute over fur coats), Alan Thicke in 1988, Dick Clark from 1989 to 1993, and Bob Goen from 1994 to 1996. The show’s highest ratings were in the early 1980s when it regularly topped the Nielsen ratings. Viewership dropped sharply from the 1990s to the 2000s, from an estimated viewership of 20 million to an average of 7 million from 2000 to 2001. 

In 2002, owner Donald Trump brokered a new deal with NBC, giving them half-ownership of the Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA and moving them to NBC on an initial five-year contract. The pageants were first shown on NBC in 2003.

The Miss USA title winner historically represented the U.S. in its sister pageant, Miss Universe. Since its inception, eight Miss USA titleholders have gone on to win Miss Universe.

In the mid-1960s, the organization established a rule that when a Miss USA wins the Miss Universe title, the first runner-up assumes the Miss USA title for the remainder of the year. This occurred in 1980, 1995, 1997, and 2012. In 1967, the first runner-up Susan Bradley of California declined the title and the crown went to the second runner-up Cheryl Patton of Florida. The only instance when a first runner-up assumed the title of Miss USA before this period was in 1957, when Mary Leona Gage of Maryland resigned after it was discovered she was married.

The winner is assigned a one-year contract with the Miss Universe Organization, traveling across the United States and sometimes overseas to spread messages about their chosen causes. Aside from the job, the winner also receives a cash allowance for her entire reign, a modelling portfolio, beauty products, clothes, shoes, styling, healthcare, and fitness services from different pageant sponsors. She also gains exclusive access to events such as fashion shows and opening galas, as well as access to casting calls and modeling opportunities throughout New York City. When Donald Trump owned the pageant, the winner was given the use of a Trump Place apartment in New York City during her reign, which she shared with the Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA titleholders. If the winner, for any reason, cannot fulfill her duties as Miss USA, including if she wins the title of Miss Universe, the 1st runner-up takes over.

In late-June 2015, both NBC and Spanish-language network Univision (which was to begin a new five-year contract for Spanish rights) announced that they would cut their ties with Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Organization in response to remarks Trump made relating to undocumented immigrants during the launch of his 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Trump threatened to sue both companies over the decision; on June 30, 2015, Trump sued Univision for defamation and breach of contract. In February 2016, Donald Trump and Univision reached a settlement ending the litigation. The terms of the settlement remain confidential but included an agreement for Trump to buy back NBCUniversal’s stake in the MUO.

After losing its television partners, it was announced that Miss USA 2015 would be streamed on the pageant’s website. Shortly before the pageant, Reelz Channel announced that it would broadcast Miss USA 2015.

In September 2015, IMG bought the Miss Universe Organization for an undisclosed amount. The company had previously been involved in licensing and production for the events. The following month, Fox announced that it had acquired the U.S. television rights to Miss USA and Miss Universe beginning with Miss Universe 2015 and Miss USA 2016.

In the summer of 2020, the Miss Universe organization finalized licensing of future annual operation of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to Crystle Stewart, who was Miss USA 2008. The first pageant competitions under her directorship as Miss USA Organization were the 2021 productions.