Me last week: couldn’t care less about cheerleading, could barely identify a pom-pom.
Me this week: entire personality is Netflix’s new docuseries, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.
In case you haven’t watched just yet or are simply DCC curious (new acronym I’m trying out, go with it), the docuseries ~pulls back the curtain~ on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders’ 2023 season from auditions (only 36 girls make the cut), to Training Camp, to the playoffs. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder if the DCC qualifies as cult, and your jaw will absolutely hit the floor when you find out how much the cheerleaders are paid. And…not in a good way.
Before we get into it, please be advised that the DCC are so much more than “just cheerleaders.” Yes, a huge part of their job is learning dozens of routines (including the iconic ‘Thunderstruck’), but they’re also brand ambassadors for the Dallas Cowboys.
They work every game, they go to events, they interact with fans, and they put out a yearly calendar, all while undergoing huge amounts of scrutiny, pressure, and body-shaming —and not just from fans, but from The Dallas Cowboys ‘Powers That Be.’Basically, it’s a lot of extremely physical and emotional work, and you’d think they’d be cashing in. But that’s not the case.
How much do the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders get paid?
In short: Not! Enough!
The issue of payment (or lack thereof) is raised in the first episode of AS: DCC when former team cheerleader Kat reveals she made about as much as a full-time Chick-fil-A worker (which appears to be around $37,947).
Even more shocking, Dallas Cowboys owner and Chief Brand Officer, Charlotte Jones, knows how little the team makes and is…fine with it? In fact, the attitude among the people in charge seems to be the team is lucky to be getting paid at all.
“There’s a lot of cynicism around pay for NFL cheerleaders — and as it should be,” Jones said. “They’re not paid a lot. But the facts are that 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 passion 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. It is about a sisterhood that they were able to form. About relationships that they have for the rest of their life. They have a chance to feel like they’re valued, that they’re special, and that they are making a difference.”
They can still feel all these things and get paid well! And in case you, too, feel like it’s absolutely wild that the person in charge of paying the DCC admits they’re “not paid a lot,” viewers are right there with you.
Now also seems like a good time to point out the average salary for a NFL player is $2.8 million while the minimum salary is $705,000.
They used to make even less
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders used to be paid just $15 per game (this went up to $35 in the 1980s), and many of the early cheerleaders said they were “surprised” to get paid at all because they thought it was an “honorary position.”
Meanwhile, former cheerleader Tina Kalina told Netflix’s doc crew, “These millennials, X-Gen, whatever they’re called, they do look at it as a job, where us old-timers look at it as more of a privilege.”
One cheerleader sued over the lack of pay
In 2018, cheerleader Erica Wilkins sued the Cowboys, claiming she made just $4,700 after taxes for the year. She also alleged that cheerleaders were being paid just $8.00 per hour for practice and didn’t make overtime. The suit was settled, and the cheerleaders’ game-day pay was raised to $400 a game. Which…still seems like several thousand dollars too little imo.
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post spoke to an anonymous former Cowboys cheerleader from 2021 who said she was paid $12.50 per hour. She also said the cheerleaders aren’t allowed to supplement their income with spon-con or influencing, meaning almost all of them have to balance full-time jobs on top of full-time practice:
“It’s kind of a running joke for the girls on the team: The guys on the practice squad, who don’t even touch the field half of the time, getting 80 grand more than we do a year. And I’m at every single game, dancing my ass off, and every other appearance, and my face is all over The Star. You don’t even know who these guys on the practice team are. It’s unfortunate that with how much they pretend or say that we are important and the face of the organisation, the way they treat us and pay us does not come near to equal that.”
This is hugely disappointing, so here’s to hoping the success/popularity of America’s Sweethearts: the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders puts a spotlight on this issue and puts some pressure on the Cowboys to PAY UP.
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
