After decades of performing for one of the NFL’s most valuable franchises while earning less-than-glamorous wages, the much-loved Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have secured a 400 per cent pay raise.
The wage increase is revealed at the conclusion of the second season of America’s Sweethearts, the viral Netflix docuseries that follows the iconic team of dancers from auditions to the end of the NFL season.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders get pay rise.
The series, which debuted its second season on Wednesday (US), chronicled the cheerleaders’ push for better pay, putting a renewed spotlight on compensation issues that have long plagued NFL cheerleading squads.
“We’re pleased, as you’ll see in the series, that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were happy with the outcome,” Tad Carper, the Cowboys’ senior vice president of communications, said in a statement.
The show does not disclose the new wages taking effect next season, nor does it reveal the cheerleaders’ current wages.
The Cowboys’ statement did not disclose the exact pay amount, and a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
According to the cheerleaders’ website, they are paid for rehearsals, home games, promo appearances and shows.
Jada McLean, who retired from the squad after having led the effort to secure higher pay, told The New York Times that she made $15 an hour and $500 for each appearance last year, based on experience.
After the pay raise, she said, veteran cheerleaders could soon make more than $75 an hour.
Following season 1 of America’s Sweethearts, the cheerleaders have become universally loved, and fans were quick to celebrate the latest news.
“You know what??? They deserve it! Those girls starve themselves and work like slaves to become and remain a Cowboy cheerleader. Yaay them!” one fan said on social media.
And another: “Bout DAMN time!!!”
And another: “lol so does this mean they finally are making minimum wage?”
Former cheerleader Kristin Westbrook said it was not just about the money, but respect.
“I wore the boots. I know what it takes,” she said on Instagram.
“Being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader (2019-2022) meant training like an athlete, performing like an artist, and representing a billion-dollar brand — all while earning less than most would believe.
“This week’s announcement of a 400% pay raise is long overdue — and deeply powerful. I’m so proud of the women on the current team who used their voices to spark this change.
“They’ve rewritten the story not just for themselves, but for every DCC to come — and, I hope, for every NFL cheerleader still waiting for fairness.
“This isn’t just about pay. It’s about value. It’s about equality. And it’s time the @nfl showed both. Let this be the beginning, not the exception.”
McLean did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The massive fan reaction to the Netflix show after its debut last year helped bring a discussion around pay equity to the forefront, with many viewers questioning why the cheerleaders’ salaries were so low.
The Cowboys cheerleaders — along with other NFL cheerleading teams across the country — have continued to face fan scrutiny over the years for their low pay even though they contribute skilled labor and risk injury and are prominent faces of the Cowboys’ brand.
In 2018, former cheerleader Erica Wilkins filed a class action lawsuit against the Cowboys that resulted in a pay increase in 2019, from $8 to $12 per hour and from $200 to $400 per game.
Wilkins, who cheered for the Cowboys from 2014 to 2017, claimed in her lawsuit that she sometimes made less than minimum wage and that the cheerleaders were paid less than the Cowboys’ mascot.
