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During the 38 years there have been casinos in Atlantic City, the gaming industry has learned two immutable facts:
1. Never try to compete with Santa Claus, which is why casino entertainment often takes a two-week holiday beginning in mid-December.
2. Don’t try to compete with Miss America.
At 10:59 p.m. Sunday, one of 52 contestants will be crowned Miss America 2017 on national television.
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PHOTOS: Miss America 2017 Contestants
The casinos will never publicly admit they’ve never been big fans of Miss America. But executives from some gaming halls have been known to grumble behind the scenes about giving up a bunch of hotel rooms for two weeks to house the contestants and their entourages, when they could be comping those rooms to gamblers who will feed the slot machines and table games.
But the casinos also know that despite what it costs them in lost gaming revenue — Miss America supporters aren’t exactly known for their high-rolling ways — the competition is actually good for business in Atlantic City.
Even though it competes against "Sunday Night Football," the nationally televised finals of the Miss America Competition — they stopped using the word “pageant” several years ago — still pulls down a pretty decent rating for ABC. This after several years of free-falling viewer numbers when the competition took place in Las Vegas before returning to its Atlantic City roots in 2013.
Last year, nearly 8 million viewers tuned in to see Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell win the title, a boost of nearly 1 million viewers from the previous year. Although the competition’s ratings were dwarfed by the estimated 24 million people who watched the New York Giants tackle the Dallas Cowboys on NBC, the Miss America Competition put 8 million pairs of eyes on Atlantic City for two prime-time hours on Sunday night.
The broadcast from Boardwalk Hall is essentially a two-hour commercial for Atlantic City that doesn’t cost a dime, unless you include the site fee the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority pays for the rights to host the competition.
In February, the CRDA approved a new three-year deal to keep the competition on the boardwalk. The new contract calls for the casino-funded state agency to provide $3.5 million in subsidies this year, $3.75 million for the 2018 competition and $4 million in 2019. The CRDA will also pay an additional $325,000 each year to cover production expenses.
In return, the broadcast’s producers have made sure some of Atlantic City’s most visible assets are give the prime-time spotlight. During the last three years, the contestants have been broken into several groups and pre-recorded their self-introductions at the beginning of the broadcast from places like the beach, the U.S. Coast Guard station, Steel Pier and even from the deck of a commercial fishing boat.
The show often returns from commercial breaks with footage of other iconic Atlantic City locations. And to keep interest in the competition and Atlantic City alive throughout the year, the show’s producers, Dick Clark Productions, makes sure Miss America and the city get some face and talk time at other events it produces.
Earlier this year, for instance, Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell was a presenter the American Music Awards.
After three nights of preliminary competition ending Thursday, the Miss America contestants spend Friday rehearsing for Sunday’s television broadcast.
On Saturday, another Miss America tradition plays itself out on the boardwalk with the annual parade. Each contestant, perched on the back deck of a convertible, rides down the boardwalk showing off some outlandish footwear made for them (or made by them) that has some sort of special symbolism to the young woman.
The tradition of showing off their shoes dates back to the 1970s. Although there’s never been an official explanation how the ritual began, the most plausible — and one that’s generally accepted with a little wink — is that after spending a week dancing and strutting in high heels in everything from production numbers to the evening gown and swimsuit competitions, the contestants’ feet really hurt.
So when they were riding in the annual parade and thought no one could see, they either wore bedroom slippers, flip-flops or no shoes at all. And they would have gotten away with it had a group of gay men, who lived in an apartment above the boardwalk, not been looking down one year and spotted one shoeless contestant.
“Hey, honey,” one man shouted, “show us your shoes.”
The embarrassed contestant gamely held up her leg to show off her bare foot. The following year, a couple of contestants created their own personalized footwear, and an unofficial Miss America tradition was born.
For years, the Miss America Organization never acknowledged the urban myth about the origins of Show Us Your Shoes. But when Miss America returned to Atlantic City after seven years in Las Vegas, the organization embraced the playfulness of the and even renamed the boardwalk event the “Show Us Your Shoes Parade.”
The parade, which is free except for reserved seats near Boardwalk Hall, begins Saturday at 5 p.m.
Around town
When it comes to the impact the competition has on casino entertainment, it really isn’t Miss America that’s keeping casino entertainment on the light side this weekend.
For years, the gaming houses usually take a showroom breather the first weekend after Labor Day to catch their collective breaths after a busy summer.
That’s certainly the case this year, with just two headline musical act scheduled to perform.
The rock band 3 Doors Down, now in its 20th year, will perform at Caesars Atlantic City on Saturday at 9 p.m. with special guests Pop Evil. Tickets are $35, $55 and $75, available through ticketmaster.com or (800) 736-1420.
Pop and R&B singer and songwriter Billy Ocean will headline at Resorts Casino Hotel on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $40, $50 and $60, available throughticketmaster.com or (800) 736-1420.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/entertainment/2016/09/06/miss-america-still-golden-atlantic-city/89899464/
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