The two,400-seat Miami theater lit up like a Coldplay live performance when the QR code dropped on the Miss USA pageant. A sea of telephones — held up by supportive dad and mom, companions, and previous pageant queens — skilled their cameras on the large barcode being projected from heart stage, able to vote for his or her favored contestant.

Twelve minutes on the clock: The countdown was on.

Fingers tapped quickly because the viewers used their free vote or bought extra in bundles — $50 for 50, $250 for 250, $500 for 500 — alongside viewers at residence. The highest 20 contestants’ headshots shifted across the leaderboard because the votes tallied stay on the pageant’s web site, revealing precisely how far every lady was from the highest spot.

Two minutes left on the clock, a banner flashed throughout: Now, votes counted double. Because the seconds ticked nearer to zero, the votes burst in like a flash flood. The hole between first and second place was 1,794 votes on the 36-second mark. When the clock struck zero, it was greater than 14,000.

Followers have by no means had extra of a say at Miss USA — particularly in the event that they’re prepared to pay. Finally month’s pageant, paid voting helped decide three high 20 spots, whereas a fourth went to the contestant who offered essentially the most Westgate Resorts trip packages, an unprecedented incentive that tied a contestant’s placement to gross sales for a pageant sponsor. The winner was decided by a panel of six judges, together with a mixture of Miss USA and Miss Universe winners, however followers additionally had the chance to vote for the highest 10 because the “seventh decide.”

Practically a dozen of this yr’s Miss USA contestants spoke to Enterprise Insider concerning the adjustments. Some imagine it is a savvy technique by CEO Thom Brodeur, who took over the pageant in September 2025, to maintain the enterprise afloat and improve fan engagement, particularly at a time when pageants battle to stay related. Others fear the competitors is popping into what one known as a “pay-to-play” mannequin, making it much less accessible to girls who haven’t got cash or huge social media followings.

No one is arguing with Beyoncé or Taylor Swift’s groups over the standing-room ticket costs of four-figures and better, and we’re not going to apologize both.Miss USA CEO Thom Brodeur

“There’s a number of fatigue,” Miss Arizona Kaitlyn Humphrey instructed Enterprise Insider. “It is an costly sport already, and it breaks my coronary heart that lots of people cannot compete purely as a result of there’s such a barrier to entry within the monetary side of issues. After which we’re simply including layers to that.”

The bygone days of community TV

Practically 40 million folks tuned in to look at Miss USA within the Sixties and ’70s, however viewership dwindled over its 60 years on tv. In 2023, the Miss USA last peaked at 1.1 million viewers on The CW. It was a far cry from its heyday, however nonetheless sufficient for a multiyear deal. The community in the end dropped the pageant in 2025 amid fallout from former CEO Laylah Rose‘s tenure, throughout which Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava relinquished their crowns because of her management.

This yr, the competitors was set to return to The CW, however, as Enterprise Insider first reported, the community dropped the present on August 20, per week earlier than the ultimate. Miss USA cited a “contractual concern with our manufacturing preparations” and moved it to Queen Magnificence Community, a streaming service centered on the pageant trade, the place Brodeur is listed as vice chairman and chief advertising officer.

When the crown was positioned on Justus Kelley’s head on August 27, making her the primary married lady and mom to win the title, a stay viewer counter on the Queen Magnificence Community confirmed round 4,000 folks watching.

Shrinking viewership hasn’t solely affected Miss USA’s scores — it is put a critical dent within the pageant’s coffers. Paula Shugart, who oversaw Miss USA from 2001 to 2020 as president of the Miss Universe Group, instructed Enterprise Insider that the pageant as soon as obtained $3 to $5 million in licensing charges from the networks. These days are gone.

“Community tv has fully modified,” Shugart mentioned. “You do not have the viewership, and you are not going to get the license charges that you just used to get. You need to work out other ways to pay for it and defray the prices.”

It is a actuality that Brodeur is aware of effectively.

“The times of ‘free lunch’ for pageants and pageant followers are over,” he instructed Enterprise Insider final week. “They have been over for a while. Introducing new income streams — whether or not that is by way of fan voting, contests, or different distinctive alternatives we’re exploring — are the best way this trade lives to see its subsequent 75 years.”

Competing at Miss USA wasn’t low cost to start with, though the associated fee varies broadly relying on who you ask. Contestants who spoke to Enterprise Insider estimated prices starting from $3,000 to $50,000.

Brodeur in contrast the funding to that of any aggressive sport. “There’s nothing new beneath the solar about creating alternatives and areas for all of us to train our God-given presents on this world,” he mentioned. “Sadly, there are additionally prices connected to the creation of these alternatives and areas, and that is the truth of life.”

A brand new solution to have interaction followers

Historically, contestants make it to Miss USA by profitable a state pageant.

These are organized and funded by particular person administrators, who pay the group a franchise payment. Contestants should stay, work, or examine within the state for not less than 90 days previous to the competitors and are allowed to compete in two state pageants a yr.

When Brodeur took over as CEO, he had 5 weeks to placed on the Miss USA 2025 pageant. Some departed state administrators had not been changed, and eight states had been lacking titleholders. His resolution: an open casting name through which girls from any state might apply for a state title. 5 judges chosen the titleholders.

This yr, 16 states had been left with out administrators. Brodeur mentioned solely the Miss Universe Group can legally concern franchise agreements to new state administrators, so the open casting name returned — this time with followers getting a say.

Earlier than the candidates could possibly be seen by a judging panel of former Miss USA winners, they needed to make it by way of three rounds of fan voting over the course of a month. Folks might use a each day free vote or buy bundles that ranged from $4.99 for 10 votes to $499 for two,000 votes on a third-party web site. The votes didn’t roll over from spherical to spherical, so every contestant began every spherical again at sq. one.

“It was loopy,” mentioned Amber Uhler, who was chosen to characterize Michigan by way of the casting name. “I needed to get everybody I knew to place in paid votes for me. [I said], ‘When you had been ever going to purchase me a Christmas reward, simply make it this.'”

Miss USA cut up the 16 states into two casting calls. Ladies who did not get chosen within the first, which ran from Might 20 to June 30, had been mechanically entered into the second, from June 29 to July 28. That meant some girls had been campaigning for votes for 2 months.

Malory Hudson, who has competed at 12 Miss USA state pageants since 2017, was one in every of them. “I really like competing, however I hated this open casting name,” mentioned Hudson, who didn’t make it by way of the judges’ panel. “There was simply anxiousness each single day. You need to publish a lot, and it is exhausting.”

Different contestants, like Uhler, loved the method as a result of it “made it extra enjoyable” as folks had been invested within the contestants’ journeys. Jordyn Owen, who received Miss Colorado by way of the open name, mentioned it introduced “much more buzz and a focus” to Miss USA.

“Final yr, it was fully nameless. Nobody knew in the event you submitted within the open name or not,” she added. “Having it’s very public this yr, I truly type of favored it as a result of it did make it really feel just a little bit extra invested.”

Brodeur mentioned that the a number of rounds of voting had been designed to have interaction followers and provides contestants the “best possible probability and most alternative for his or her followers to advance them into the ultimate judging spherical.”

“We acknowledge that each open casting and fan voting are ‘new methods’ of fascinated by and approaching this journey in pageantry,” he added. “Not all the pieces that’s modern is accepted universally immediately.”

Some contestants nervous that the method was a barrier for ladies who did not have beneficiant sponsors through their household, pals, or followers. Uhler mentioned her household spent $4,000 to $5,000 in votes over the last spherical; Hudson mentioned she had a sponsor who purchased round $30,000 value of votes.

Brodeur disputed that the brand new fan voting made Miss USA much less accessible, saying practically 70% of the open-call winners superior with a “a lot larger ratio of free votes from their followers than paid votes.”

“There are two varieties of rivals on this sport,” he mentioned. “The primary… has such a deeply engaged fan base she might repeatedly encourage her followers to ‘vote for me totally free’ and he or she superior. The opposite was the candidate who wasn’t afraid to hunt the monetary assist of her pals, household, and followers to drive their participation.”

“How is that this any totally different than Instagram and TikTok influencers monetizing their content material or their ‘journeys/tales’ by way of followers on behalf of the manufacturers they’re repping?” he added. “It is completely the identical course of.”

Brodeur mentioned the open casting name is right here to remain for not less than one other yr. “As we work by way of this subsequent season’s contract course of, we’re probably going to be pressured to execute an identical technique as we did throughout this final cycle,” he added.

The Folks’s Selection(s)

The marketing campaign for votes wasn’t over after the open casting name. Subsequent, contestants needed to undergo Folks’s Selection, which let followers vote for his or her favourite amongst all 51 Miss USA 2026 contestants. As with the casting name, followers might use a each day free vote or buy them in bundles.

Most pageants — together with Miss Universe and Miss America — have historically allotted one spot within the semifinals for the contestant who receives essentially the most fan votes. Below Brodeur’s management, that single spot in Miss USA’s high 20 expanded to 4 in 2025, and three this yr.

It has been a controversial choice amongst contestants, together with Miss Kansas Madilynn Becker, who received this yr’s Folks’s Selection award with Miss Louisiana Ella Clark and Miss Colorado’s Owen.

“Folks’s Selection is a path, but it surely’s virtually just like the shortcut, in a way,” mentioned Becker. “I feel I might have felt much more proud if I obtained in alone advantage.”

“I might like to see the voting develop into a free factor as a result of, basically, it comes right down to who has essentially the most cash to champion for them,” mentioned Miss California Acacia McBride.

Brodeur mentioned he expanded the variety of Folks’s Selection contestants to offer followers a bigger say. “One of many rallying cries for the higher a part of a decade has been, ‘We would like extra of a voice in who makes it and the place,'” he added.

He mentioned that is why followers had been additionally given the possibility to vote for the highest 10 on finals evening. The Miss USA web site mentioned these votes had been “mixed right into a seventh rating and counted with the judges’ six when the highest 10 is determined.” Brodeur confirmed that the fan voting counted as 14% of the contestants’ total rating.

Whereas a variety of contestants who spoke to Enterprise Insider thought the voting was a good way to maintain the viewers engaged, evaluating it to the real-time voting on “Love Island” or “Dancing with the Stars,” others had been stunned to be taught that followers might buy votes.

“It undoubtedly stirred up a number of emotions backstage,” Arizona’s Humphrey mentioned. “Among the women have totally different monetary conditions than others, and you are feeling like issues are getting ripped away from you for components that you could’t management, and we have already spent a lot cash to be there.”

Tens of hundreds of votes poured in, however, in the long run, the three girls who obtained essentially the most votes — Humphrey, Miss Louisiana Ella Clark, and Miss Montana Lisbeth Fernández — didn’t advance to the highest 10.

“I really feel very blessed to know that I’ve a giant viewers that’s prepared to point out up for me,” mentioned Fernández, who obtained essentially the most votes. “However on the finish of the day, the judges are those who make the final word name.”

Mother and father and pageant followers tossed across the phrase “cash seize” all through the weeklong 2026 competitors in Miami.

Brodeur mentioned the group made “5 – 6 figures” from fan voting however declined to share an actual quantity. He additionally famous that some income from fan voting was used to fund new money prizes — starting from $3,500 to $15,000 — for each contestant who made it into the highest 5. The wage for this yr’s Miss USA winner additionally elevated to $150,000; it was $75,000 in 2025.

“There have been a number of totally different facets the place I used to be like, ‘OK, it’s important to pay to play,'” mentioned McBride. “Nonetheless, I do suppose, on the flip facet of that, incorporating the money prizes and the wage balanced it out.”

A brand new high 20 incentive

A further high 20 spot was reserved for the contestant who offered essentially the most Westgate Resorts trip packages: $99 for a two-night keep at one in every of six US properties.

Miss USA introduced the brand new partnership in April. Brodeur instructed Enterprise Insider that it was a solution to faucet into what he calls “one of many largest micro and nano-influencer networks of girls aged 14 to 45 in america.”

Some girls dove headfirst, touring to a Westgate property to movie Instagram content material. Fernández, who secured the “Westgate Model Ambassador” title, mentioned she offered virtually 200 packages and can now have the chance to interview for a six-figure place on the firm.

“A whole lot of the ladies had been centered on the Folks’s Selection, however I actually did not give it any thought in any respect as a result of I needed to win the ‘Westgate Model Ambassador,'” she instructed Enterprise Insider. “I put my promoting abilities in motion, and I promoted that throughout with my pals, household, and group. I additionally offered some company packages.”

Uhler, who estimates she offered 103 packages, was additionally a fan of the motivation. Though she did not make it into the highest 20, she appreciated that Miss USA provided a brand new avenue for contestants to advance.

“It is nice that you could work arduous and earn one thing reasonably than simply, you realize, being the prettiest, or having the most effective stroll, or having the most effective physique,” she added. “I do not suppose that I’ve any of these issues, however you virtually cannot outwork me — apart from this time, somebody did! I actually thought I used to be going to nail it with 100.”

Some contestants who spoke to Enterprise Insider nervous that the position was out of attain for these with out built-in social media followings. Others, like Miss USA 2004 Shandi Finnessey, did not suppose it match the model.

“I do not suppose they need to be promoting actual property,” Finnessey mentioned. “Miss USA will not be a salesman; she ought to be a spokeswoman.”

Brodeur mentioned he believes that it is a part of Miss USA’s job to be a “model ambassador, a salesman, a spokesperson… for manufacturers which might be prepared to check their abilities and see who rises to the event.”

The $99 Westgate resort deal was additionally included within the $500 ticket for this yr’s Miss USA competitors, a steeper worth than in years previous. One contestant mentioned her dad and mom spent $2,000 on tickets for the preliminary, last, and state costume exhibits this yr. Others instructed their kin to avoid wasting their cash and watch from residence.

“On the finish of the day, I might reasonably my dad be within the stands than go on a trip,” Becker mentioned.

Brodeur defended the associated fee, saying he needed to “elevate the Miss USA model.”

“We’re not a highschool musical manufacturing. We’re not a promenade or homecoming queen occasion,” he mentioned. “No one is arguing with Beyoncé or Taylor Swift’s groups over the standing-room ticket costs of four-figures and better, and we’re not going to apologize both.”

Brodeur hopes the adjustments can catapult Miss USA into its subsequent chapter after years of scandals. The problem is proving to potential contestants that there might be a return on their funding.

Is it sufficient for Miss USA to be one other influencer? The stage was a launching pad for stars like Halle Berry and Kenya Moore. Some pageant queens aren’t satisfied it nonetheless has that energy.

“Anybody nowadays can choose up your cellphone and go on TikTok,” mentioned Owen. “I am not saying it is easy. It takes lots to construct followers and a model, however what pageants used to have had been a family identify. Miss USA must have that celeb high quality once more.”