Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders get 400% pay raise
America's sweethearts are getting a raise.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders secured a pay raise of approximately 400% for the 2025 season.
The pay bump is revealed in episode 7 ("Saturn Returns") of the second season of "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders," which began streaming on Netflix June 18.
In the episode, Megan McElaney, a four-year veteran of the team, speaks to the camera, telling the audience there are "new changes" this season.
"Our efforts were heard and they wanted to give us a raise," McElaney says. "And we ended up getting a 400% increase, which is like, life-changing."
"'Happy' isn't even the right word for it," former cheerleader Jada McLean says separately. "I think I was just... kind of felt, like, a relief -- like everything had paid off. And it was, you know, finally, we were done fighting."
"We pushed, and we got back good results," fellow team member Armani Latimer adds.
When reached by ABC News about the matter, the Dallas Cowboys said, "We're pleased, as you'll see in the series, that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were happy with the outcome."
In September 2019, the Cowboys settled a lawsuit with former cheerleader Erica Wilkins and doubled the cheerleaders' game-day pay from $200 to $400.
The Dallas Cowboys are one of the most valuable NFL teams in the league. Forbes ranked the organization as the No. 1 richest league at over $10 billion in 2024.
