How the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Got a 400% Pay Raise

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Jada McLean, who helped fight for a pay raise for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, is pictured in Netflix's America's Sweethearts. Credit - Courtesy of Netflix
The second season of America's Sweethearts ends on a triumphant note for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
In the final 15 minutes of the Netflix documentary series' new season, which airs June 18, Megan, a four-year veteran, excitedly shares the news about a 'life-changing' 400% pay increase that the cheerleaders will be getting. We learn they will also be paid more for their appearances outside of cheering for the Dallas Cowboys.
It's a happy ending to a grueling season and a key milestone in the dancers' long fight for fair pay. Over seven episodes, the series tackles how choreographers put together a 36-person cheerleading team for Dallas Cowboys football games. Just because someone has previously been on the team—those dancers are called 'veterans'—doesn't mean they'll make the team the following season. They have to audition again, alongside 'rookies,' people trying out for the first time, during an intense boot camp.
So advocating for a pay raise added pressure to the situation. Jada McLean, a five-year veteran who helped lead pay negotiations after being almost evicted from her home, tells TIME that the series' existence played a big role in them getting the increases. In both seasons of America's Sweethearts, dancers talk about how they have to work multiple jobs to pay their bills, even though the Cowboys are valued at more than $10 billion.
'Having people watch the television show and speak up honestly on behalf of us and say, 'Hey, this is not right. We weren't aware that these girls are making so little'—that motivated us to speak up more for ourselves,' McLean says.
Tad Carper, senior vice president of communications for the Cowboys, tells TIME via email: 'We're pleased, as you'll see in the series, that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were happy with the outcome.'
Here's how the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders made their case for a pay raise in Season 2 and got to the end zone.
Exact pay rates are not discussed in the show, and the Cowboys would not confirm the pay rates to TIME. But NBC Boston reported in 2022 that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders made between $15 and $20 an hour, $500 per match, and about $75,000 a year.
There is also a history of dissatisfaction with Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader wages. In 2018, former Cowboys cheerleader Erica Wilkins sued, and a 2019 settlement resulted in an increase in the hourly wage from $8 an hour to $12 an hour, and an increase in game day wages from $200 to $400.
While the contents of the cheerleaders' contracts are not revealed in America's Sweethearts, the disappointed reactions are well-documented in several off-hand comments throughout the latest season of the show. Some cheerleaders like Armani, a fifth-year veteran, have a job outside of cheerleading that primarily pays their bills, but many do not. Kleine, a 4-year veteran, is working four different jobs while the Cowboys are in season.
In the series, Megan points out that the cheerleaders get some services like hair styling and spray tans, as part of the job. 'But at the end of the day, that doesn't pay my rent. I've got student loans, I've got car payments,' she says.
The first group meeting in which cheerleaders vent about their pay happens about halfway through Season 2, in Episode 4.
'For us to all be struggling financially, I'm kind of over it,' Jada says over breakfast at a diner with other cheerleaders.
'I would love to leave this place better than it was when we started,' Armani adds.
'Our legacy will be the money,' Jada says.
At the beginning of last summer, McLean tells TIME, the cheerleaders started consulting family members of alumni who were in the legal field about what their options were, and then had several meetings with the Cowboys' HR and legal teams. Viewers will see the cheerleaders talking to one another about the need for a pay increase, but their meetings are not on camera.
During a Zoom call with the team featured in America's Sweethearts, a group of veterans updated their teammates on the slow progress of negotiations.
'We sat in this meeting and I was almost in tears,' Amanda says on the call. 'It was just breaking my heart the way they were speaking about us.'
But she says she's not going to back down on the cause, arguing that the Netflix show has given them a huge platform to leverage: 'If there's any time to do it, it's now that we are relevant and the world is on our side.'
She even encourages her teammates to consider not showing up to a practice and stage a walkout. Some members talk about potentially leaving the team for good.
While staging a walkout and going on strike may have been talked about, McLean tells TIME they didn't follow through because the dancers were too worried about disappointing fans: 'We didn't want to let people down who were so excited to see the cheerleaders after supporting us through the first season of our television show.'
Judy Trammell, a choreographer for the cheerleaders, says in the show, 'A walkout would really make me nervous, but I know people have to fight for certain things to make changes, and I understand that.'
The cheerleaders continued to hold meetings to discuss the issue of pay. Amanda does bring up pay during a progress check-in she has with Trammell and the director of the team, Kelli Finglass. 'I do hope that one day we can get the cheerleaders paid more,' Amanda tells them. 'We work extremely hard, and I think all of these girls would quit their full-time jobs in order to be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.'
Trammell replies: 'But why do we want people to quit their full-time jobs when that's what's so impressive about ya'll?'
Speaking with TIME, McLean responded to that comment: 'The reality of having to balance two or three or four jobs isn't easy, and it's hard to be the best at something when you feel like you're having to spread yourself thin in other areas instead of fully committing to that one thing.'
Though she fought for the pay raise for her teammates, McLean will not be returning to the Dallas Cowboys, citing the workload and a general desire for a more flexible schedule.
When asked what valuable life lessons she's learned as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, she brought the conversation back to fair pay.
She hopes their fight for fair pay inspires other women to speak up in their own jobs, arguing, 'at the end of the day, you don't know what's going to come from it, and it may be something that benefits you or the people who come after you.'
And she hopes the Netflix series will give people a greater appreciation for the hard work that goes into cheerleading. 'We're not just pretty faces out there shaking pom poms," she says. "We're true athletes. We're women who are successful outside of the uniforms.'
Write to Olivia B. Waxman at [e-mail].