Miss USA contestants sold vacation packages and asked fans to buy votes. It's the CEO's latest effort to stay relevant.
The Miss USA pageant has introduced controversial new voting methods, including paid voting and incentives tied to sponsor sales, to boost engagement. Critics and contestants express concern that these changes are commercializing the competition and undermining its integrity.
Why it matters
The shift reflects the struggle of traditional beauty pageants to maintain relevance and financial viability in a changing media landscape.
Contestants at the 2026 Miss USA pageant in Miami on August 27. Ivan Apfel/Getty Images The 2,400-seat Miami theater lit up like a Coldplay concert when the QR code dropped at the Miss USA pageant . A sea of phones — held up by supportive parents, partners, and past pageant queens — trained their cameras on the massive barcode being projected from center stage, ready to vote for their favored contestant. Twelve minutes on the clock: The countdown was on. Fingers tapped rapidly as the audience used their free vote or purchased more in bundles — $50 for 50, $250 for 250, $500 for 500 — alongside viewers at home. The top 20 contestants' headshots shifted around the leaderboard as the votes tallied live on the pageant's website, revealing exactly how far each woman was from the top spot.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in