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CBS News
35 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders get 400% pay raise, Netflix show reveals
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders received a 400% raise last season, according to members of the team in the newest season of "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders." In episode seven, season two of the Netlflix show, four-year veteran Megan McElaney said a meeting was called by the team's director, Kelli Finglass, to discuss their pay. Five-year veteran Jada McLean said they thanked her, McElaney and fellow veteran Armani Latimer for their hard work and for being open and honest about wanting the raises. "We ended up getting a 400% raise, which is life-changing," McElaney said. Specific pay rates weren't, nor have they been, discussed in the show. "Finally, we were done fighting," McLean said. In 2018, a former DCC claimed in a lawsuit that she made $8 per hour with no overtime pay. She also said the cheerleaders pictured in the popular calendars get no royalties from the sales and must purchase their own copies of the calendar for family and friends. The lawsuit also said the Cowboys male mascot, Rowdy, earned $25 an hour, more than three times the cheerleaders' wage. "I love the fact that I made change for the girls coming up behind me, even if I don't get the chance to benefit," said five-year veteran Latimer.
Time Magazine
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
How the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Got a 400% Pay Raise
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. Feeling deflated 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. Team huddles 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.' Coaching tips 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.'
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Get a 400 Percent Pay Raise
In what amounts to the biggest reveal of the second season of the Netflix docuseries 'America's Sweethearts,' the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders will receive a pay raise of roughly 400 percent for the 2025 season. It is a huge increase in a profession known for its low wages, and one that a former cheerleader for the team, Jada McLean, described in an interview with The New York Times as 'a drastic change' that could give the cheerleaders more financial security. The pay bump is announced in Episode 7 of the show's second season, which began streaming on Wednesday. It caps a yearslong effort for higher pay that drew a great deal of attention in 2018 when the former cheerleader Erica Wilkins sued the team for unfair pay. She claimed in her lawsuit that she received roughly $7 per hour with no overtime pay and a flat rate of $200 per game, which, in total, ended up being less than the annual pay for the team's mascot, Rowdy. Her case was settled out of court in 2019 and, since then, hourly wages for the squad remained low. Missing from the announcement of the raise in the show were any specifics of what the cheerleaders were making previously, or how much they would be paid under their new deal. But in a rare instance of a Cowboys cheerleader, past or present, discussing her compensation, Ms. McLean told The Times that in 2024, her fifth year with the squad, she had made $15 an hour and $500 for each appearance, and that compensation varies based on experience. With the increased wages, she said veteran cheerleaders could now be making more than $75 an hour. The new contract also changes the structure around pay for game day and other appearances, though Ms. McLean said it still does not provide health insurance. In an emailed statement, the franchise would not confirm the new wages or if the new rates apply to rookies on the team as well. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
