The Miss USA pageant was conceived in 1950 when
Yolande Betbeze, winner of
Miss America, refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit. Pageant sponsor
Catalina decided to remove their sponsorship of the pageant and create their own competition. Other owners have included a subsidiary of
Gulf+Western Industries,
Procter & Gamble under division of Madison Square Productions 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 contestants 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 contestant 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. 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, then-owner Trump brokered a deal with
NBC, giving it half-ownership of the Miss USA, Miss Universe, and Miss Teen USA pageants and moving them to the network on an initial five-year contract. The pageant first aired on NBC in 2003. The Miss USA title winner historically represented the U.S. in its sister pageant, Miss Universe. Since its inception, nine 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, 2012, and 2022. 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 was formerly 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 salary for her entire reign, a modeling 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 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 cannot fulfill her duties as Miss USA for any reason, including if she wins the Miss Universe title, her first runner-up takes over.
2015: Acquisition by IMG and Trump controversy After losing its television partners, it was announced that Miss USA 2015 would be
streamed on the pageant's website. Shortly before the pageant, however,
Reelz Channel announced that it would broadcast Miss USA 2015. In September 2015,
IMG acquired 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 late-June 2015, both NBC and Spanish-language network
Univision (which was to begin a new five-year contract for Spanish rights replacing
Telemundo) announced that they would cut their ties with 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, 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.
2021–2023: Split from MUO, 2022 controversy 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 Miss Universe Organization announced in August 2022 that, starting with the 2023 edition, it would accept divorced, maritally annulled, married, or widowed women and mothers to compete in the pageant. In October, JKN Global Group through JKN Metaverse Inc. acquired the Miss Universe Organization for US$14 million. She was replaced by fashion designer Laylah Rose.
Noelia Voigt was later crowned
Miss USA 2023 as the first titleholder of Rose's tenure.
2024–present: Resignation of both National Titleholders & acquisition by Thom Brodeur On May 6, 2024, the reigning Miss USA,
Noelia Voigt, announced on social media that she had resigned from the title, citing a desire to prioritize her mental health; two days later, the reigning
Miss Teen USA,
UmaSofia Srivastava, also resigned from her title. Voigt's resignation statement, which she posted to Instagram, seemingly spelled out (with the first letter of the beginning of each sentence): "I Am Silenced". The
New York Times later obtained Voigt's internal resignation letter to the Miss USA organization where she cited "a toxic work environment", "bullying and harassment", and delayed delivery of her prize winnings as reasons for her resignation. Voigt's first runner-up,
Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, assumed the title of Miss USA 2023 on May 9, 2024.[1] Both Voigt and Srivastava held contracts with the Miss USA organization which have confidentiality agreements and NDAs. Later, their respective mothers, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, gave an interview to
Good Morning America, where they alleged that that their daughters were exposed to ill-treatment, abuse, and bullying by the organization's president Laylah Rose. When Voight's mother was asked about the implied cryptic message in her daughter's resignation post, she declined to confirm its deliberate intent but emphasized that Voigt felt silenced due to the ongoing provisions of the non-disclosure agreement. In September 2025, longtime pageant coach Thom Brodeur announced on Instagram that he had acquired the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants as the new president, chairman, and CEO. The next day, Rose stated on the official Miss USA accounts that she was still the owner, saying that she had not been made aware of "any new contracts regarding any transfer of ownership." However, MUO later issued a press release stating that Brodeur had in fact acquired the exclusive licenses to the pageants, and on October 10, 2025, Brodeur and his organization successfully regained access to the official social media accounts . ==Competition==