MISS AMERICA to Leave Vegas for Atlantic City

Today the ABC Television Network announced a new three-year partnership with the Miss America Organization (MAO). New Jersey's Acting Governor, LT. GOV. Kim Guadagno, along with the Miss America Organization's Chairman of the Board, Sam Haskell, III, and MAO President and CEO Art McMaster joined Atlantic City officials from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the Atlantic City Alliance and the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority to announce that the Miss America organization will bring the crowning back to Atlantic City, where it first began in 1921.

This year's Miss America telecast, which crowned Mallory Hagan on January 12 2013, increased its overall audience for the third straight year since returning to ABC in 2011, to deliver the program's most-watched broadcast since 2004.

Welcoming the organization back home, LT. GOV. Guadagno said" "For decades the Miss America organization has awarded scholarships to thousands of young women to help further their goals of higher education and achieve their dreams. New Jersey is proud to once again host the Miss America Pageant here in Atlantic City. We are confident that Atlantic City's famous boardwalk and variety of restaurants, shops and entertainment venues will showcase the city's vibrancy and attraction to the participants and many visitors who will attend the Miss America Pageant every year."

Sam Haskell, III, Miss America Organization's Chairman of the Board, stated: "We are so very proud to bring Miss America back to her birthplace in Atlantic City. We are grateful to Governor Christie and his staff for helping make this possible. Today Miss America remains an iconic symbol, and our roots have always stayed connected to Atlantic City. We now look to the future as we prepare for our most exciting television event ever for Miss America with the support of our network partner, ABC."

Added Miss America Organization's President and CEO, Art McMaster: "As we depart Las Vegas, we sincerely thank our friends at Planet Hollywood who have hosted us for the last eight years and the City of Las Vegas who helped us to achieve our best television ratings last January. We will now build on that success and begin a new era by returning the tradition to Atlantic City."

CRDA, AC Alliance, and ACCVA have jointly assisted in paving the way for the return of Miss America, which will bring tourists from around the country to the East Coast's premiere gaming and vacation destination.

Details of the 2014 Miss America Competition will be announced shortly, and plans are now underway for the September event live in the famed Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall. Award winning television producer Anthony Eaton and his company, Tall Pony Productions, who have produced the live event in Las Vegas for the last six years, will produce Miss America 2014 in AC live on ABC.

The Miss America Organization is the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women and one of the nation's leading achievement programs. Last year, the Miss America Organization and its state and local affiliates made available more than $45 million in scholarship assistance. The 2014 Miss America Competition will mark its fourth consecutive year on ABC. For more information, visit www.missamerica.org.

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