Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Secure 400% Pay Raise Amid Growing Push for Equity
DALLAS, Texas — June 18, 2025 — In a landmark moment for professional cheerleaders, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) will receive a 400% pay increase for the 2025 NFL season, Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts, which premiered this week.
The raise marks a dramatic shift in a field long criticized for underpaying its talent. Former cheerleader Jada McLean described the change as “drastic,” noting in an interview with The New York Times that veterans may now earn over $75 an hour—up from $15 just last year. Though the Cowboys organization did not confirm the new wage figures, McLean said appearance fees have also increased, even though health insurance is still not included.
The pay increase is the culmination of years of advocacy for better compensation, including a 2018 lawsuit by former DCC Erica Wilkins, who was paid as little as $7 per hour. That case settled in 2019 but spurred broader attention to cheerleader pay across the NFL. The Cowboys’ new policy could raise standards for other teams as well, according to Daniel Kelly II, a professor at NYU’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport.
The DCC’s fight for fair wages is documented in America’s Sweethearts, which debuted in 2024 and quickly climbed Netflix’s top 10 charts. The show highlighted the athleticism, commitment, and financial strain faced by the cheerleaders, many of whom maintain full-time jobs. Season two shows veterans like McLean and Armani Latimer pressing management for higher pay, a demand initially met with resistance.
For decades, the prestige of being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader was seen as sufficient compensation. But as McLean put it, “We’re talented, strong, educated women and we’re hard-working athletes who deserve to be seen as such.”
Director Kelli Finglass called the raise “60-plus years long overdue,” while executive Charlotte Jones acknowledged the historical framing of cheerleaders as being driven by passion rather than pay—a narrative not applied to players like quarterback Dak Prescott, who earns $60 million annually.
The raise may reshape compensation norms for NFL cheerleaders nationwide, signaling a new era in which visibility and activism can challenge even the most entrenched sports traditions.