The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders recently received a hefty raise that is equivalent to the precision of their high kicks.
The squad, affectionately known as America’s Sweethearts, will be receiving a 400 percent pay increase for the 2025 season. The announcement of the raise was featured in the second season of “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,” a docuseries streaming on Netflix. In episode 7, “Saturn Returns,” Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Megan McElaney, shared the news with viewers.
Finally, A Salary Boost
“Our efforts were heard and they wanted to give us a raise,” McElaney shared in the docuseries. “And we ended up getting a 400 percent increase, which is like, life-changing.”
According to Forbes, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable team in the NFL, worth more than $10 billion. Yet the team’s cheerleaders, known for their team of shapely women delivering choreographed routines, have received a minuscule portion of those earnings. In a 2024 article published in “The New York Times, former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Jada McClean shared that she earned $15 an hour and $500 for appearances. And in the first season of the Netflix docuseries, members of the team shared how they worked full time jobs while performing during games. Perks such as free spray tanning, cosmetic enhancements, and hairstyling often came for free or low cost, but did not offset the overall cost of being a cheerleader.
Although the episode does not reveal the exact amount that the cheerleaders will receive, McLean shared that it is considered a huge difference, offering the women greater financial security as veterans are slated to earn an estimated $75 per hour.
Yet this is not the first time the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have had to fight for increased wages. The Dallas Cowboys organization also settled a lawsuit in 2019 with former cheerleader Erica Wilkins, doubling game day pay from $200 to $400.
Squad director, Kelli Finglass, shared that the increased wages was “60-plus years long overdue” as the football organization had long dangled the fame associated with being on the cheerleading squad as an excuse for lower wages.
This thought process by team leadership seems to be league-wide. In 2022, NFL cheerleaders were earning an estimated $150 per game, according to NBC Sports Boston. Their average yearly salary was an estimated $22,500–that’s a few thousand off from mascots who earned $25,000 annually, about half of what waterboys, who earned $53,000, and a far cry from football players who have multimillion-dollar contracts and endorsements.
“We are more than just cheerleaders,” Ms. McLean shared with The New York Times. “We’re talented, strong, educated women and we’re hard-working athletes who deserve to be seen as such.”