The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ salary – or lack thereof – has stirred controversy since the hit Netflix series, America’s Sweethearts, hit the platform last year. But now, that is all set to change.
As the second season of the popular behind-the-scenes show debuted Wednesday, one cheerleader claimed the group are set for a major payday. She revealed that the members are getting a 400 percent boost in pay.
The cheerleaders have been pushing for pay increases for years with the latest coming in 2019, when the Cowboys settled a lawsuit with a former cheerleader.
The franchise settlement led to the squad doubling the per-game pay, from $200 to $400. The latest raise is four times that.
‘Our efforts were heard and they wanted to give us a raise,’ four-year veteran Megan McElaney said on the show. ‘And we ended up getting a 400 percent increase, which is like, life-changing.’
According to ESPN, the Cowboys agreed to pay four cheerleaders a total of $2.4 million nine years ago to settle claims by the women that the team’s longtime public relations chief, Rich Dalrymple, filmed them in the dressing room.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders’ salary – or lack thereof – has stirred controversy
The second season of Netflix’s hit series, ‘America’s Sweethearts,’ debuted Wednesday
Megan McElaney (far right) revealed that the cheerleaders are receiving a 400 percent raise
Dalrymple denied the claims, and the club said its investigation found no wrongdoing by him. Dalrymple retired not long before the settlement became public in 2022.
‘Happy isn’t even the right word for it,’ former cheerleader Jada McLean said of the latest salary boost on the show. ‘I think I was just … kind of felt, like, a relief, like everything had paid off. And it was, you know, finally, we were done fighting.’
The Cowboys have been the most valuable pro sports team in the world for almost a decade, according to Forbes magazine. That number was $10.1 billion in rankings published late last year.
However, the franchise’s wealth has always appeared at odds to the salaries of its performers.
For all of the recognition that being a Cowboys cheerleader brings, members of the NFL squad’s famed cheerleading are far from rich.
While it’s understood that not all Dallas cheerleaders make the same salary, one ex-Cowboys cheerleader who exclusively spoke to the Daily Mail said she made between $15,000 and $22,000 per year while part of the DCC.
Cheerleaders can also add to their pay by doing special appearances, with those rates understood to be based on tenure.
Other reports, such as one from NBC Sports Boston in 2022, said that Cowboys cheerleaders earn between $15-20 per hour or $500 per game – which the publication calculated out to a healthier $75,000 yearly salary.
An ESPN report from 2017 added that the average leaguewide game-rate for cheerleaders was between $75 and $150.
In 2019, the Cowboys settled a lawsuit that led to the squad doubling the per-game pay
Since 2019, members of the Cowboys cheerleading squad have earned $400 per game
The cheerleaders are famous around the league for their iconic kick line at AT&T Stadium
The franchise’s chief brand officer – and daughter of owner Jerry Jones – Charlotte Jones has previously admitted cheerleaders are underpaid.
‘There’s a lot of cynicism around pay for NFL cheerleaders — as it should be. They’re not paid a lot,’ she said in the first season of the documentary, which shows the dedication it takes to be a Cowboys cheerleader.
‘But the facts are, they actually don’t come here for the money. They come here for something that’s actually bigger than that to them.
‘They have a pᴀssion for dance. There are not a lot of opportunities in the field of dance to get to perform at an elite level. It is about being a part of something bigger than themselves,’ Jones continued.
‘It is about a sisterhood that they are able to form, about relationships that they have for the rest of their life. They have a chance to feel like they are valued, they are special, and they are making a difference. When the women come here, they find their pᴀssion and they find their purpose.’
As seen in ‘America’s Sweethearts’, many of the team’s members have to hold second jobs to pursue their goals in dance, and spend 30 to 40 hours of their week practicing.
