What if they jeans?
Netflix’s new docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders has already surpassed the streamer’s vaunted Top 10 list. From director Greg Whiteley (Cheer up, last chance U), America’s Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Follow the 2023-24 team from start to finish, giving fans unfiltered access to the ups and downs of tryouts, training camp and the regular season.
Becoming a member of the America’s Sweethearts team is no easy task. Hundreds of hopefuls compete, including many returning veteran candidates hoping to keep their spots, and when the music stops, 44 cheerleaders are invited to training camp, 36 of whom make the team. The job is one of the most prominent positions in the competitive world of dance, but the salary is not exactly proportional to experience.
A DCC veteran, Kat Puryear, revealed in America’s sweethearts who earned as much as a substitute teacher or full-time worker at Chick-fil-A as she did as a Cowboys cheerleader.
“There’s a lot of cynicism around NFL cheerleader pay and what it should be,” Charlotte Jones, executive vice president and chief brand officer for the Dallas Cowboys, said in the documentary’s first episode. “They don’t get paid much. But the reality is that they don’t really come here for the money; They come here for something that is actually bigger than that for them. “They have a passion for dancing.”
Jones continued: “They have the opportunity to feel that they are valued, that they are special and that they are making a difference. “When women come here, they find their passion and they find their purpose.”
You may wonder if you can pay the rent with passion and/or purpose alone. Big question. Short answer? No. But, interestingly, the long answer is also no.
Most cheerleaders have full-time jobs, come to practice at night, and sometimes dance into the wee hours of the morning. Director Greg Whiteley recently told Glamor that he “never got a clear answer” regarding DCC’s exact salary, and that he learned that “dancers around the world are underpaid,” with the Cowboys being at the high end of the hourly pay scale.
“The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are on the high end of that. [NFL cheer] scale of payment,” Whiteley said. “I’ve heard horror stories about what a typical NFL cheerleader [makes], but I think the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders fall into a new category. None of them are rich. None of them get paid much, but it’s not the same shortfall in pay that I think other NFL cheerleaders have to experience.”
So how much exactly does a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader make in a season? Sports Illustrated notes who “reportedly earn $500 per game” ($10,000 for a season), with additional income through team-related events and public appearances. A September 2022 article from NBC Sports Boston reported that NFL cheerleaders earned about $150 per game, and that the highest-paid performers, the Cowboys and Panthers cheerleaders, earned between $15 and 20 per hour ($500 per game). Ziprecruiter estimates that the average salary for an NFL cheerleader it costs $21.68 an hour.
Fun fact: The NFL generated $18 billion in income during the 2022 seasonwith an estimate 19 billion dollars by 2023. Give me a C! Give me an H! Give me an EAP! What does that mean? Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
The seven episodes of America’s Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaderyes They are now streaming on Netflix.