Cowboys Cheerleaders Receive 400% Pay Raise for 2025 NFL Season, Team Member Says

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Megan McElaney revealed during an episode of Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders show that the team's cheerleaders will be receiving a 400 percent pay increase in the 2025 season (h/t Yi-Jin Yu of ABC News).

"Our efforts were heard and they wanted to give us a raise," McElaney said. "And we ended up getting a 400 percent increase, which is like, life-changing."

"'Happy' isn't even the right word for it," former cheerleader Jada McLean added. "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."

The organization told ABC News in a statement that it was "pleased, as you'll see in the series, that the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were happy with the outcome."

McLean told Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Katie Van Syckle of the New York Times that she made "$15 an hour and $500 for each appearance" during the 2024 season, but the pay increase meant that "veteran cheerleaders could now be making more than $75 an hour."

Per that report, however, cheerleader contracts with the Cowboys do not include health insurance, though the cheerleaders are considered part-time employees and do have access to team doctors and physical therapists. Most of the women have other jobs outside of working for the Cowboys.