FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have long been popular. Now they're - finally - about to also be paid.
In the latest episode of the America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docuseries on Netflix, team members get the surprising news that they will each receive a 400-percent salary bump for the 2025 season.
Dating back to the 1960s, the Cowboys have been roundly criticized for underpaying their cheerleading ambassadors. Latest estimates indicate team members were making as little as $22,000 annually for a franchise estimated at more than $10 billion.
"You guys have moved some mountains this year that will forever change our organization and hopefully dancers' organizations across the world," the squad's director, Kelli Finglass, told the cheerleaders at their end-of-season banquet, as documented in Episode 7 of Season 2. "It's just amazing because that has been 60-plus years long overdue."
Most of the cheerleaders have full-time or part-time jobs in addition to their role with the Cowboys. The 400-percent increase would bump average salaries to around $100,000 per season.
"Happy isn't even the right word for it," cheerleader Jada McClean said on the show. "I just felt relief and it was finally, we were done fighting."
The DCC is one of the most iconic brands in all of sports, not only performing at Cowboys home games at AT&T Stadium but also around the world on tours and special events. The team debuted at a Cowboys home game at the Cotton Bowl in 1961.