Dallas, TX
Charlotte Jones addresses Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders pay in Netflix docuseries
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders has cracked the top 10 of Netflix’s most-watched shows of the past week.
With the popularity of the America’s Sweethearts, which gives an inside look at what it takes to be a member of the iconic DCC, started a discussion of NFL cheerleader pay and salaries after the topic was discussed on the series.
The Cowboys cheerleaders make significantly more than other cheerleaders around the league, but it is not enough to make the gig a full-time job.
NFL cheerleaders make less than NFL water boys, who make about $53,000 per year, and team mascots, who earn approximately $25,000 per season.
MORE: How much are Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders paid?
Former Cowboys cheerleader Kat Puryear revealed she made around the same as “a substitute teacher. I would say I’m making … like a Chick-fil-A worker who works full time.”
Tina Kalina, a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader in the 1980s, told producers she made approximately $35 per game.
Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer Charlotte Jones, the daughter of team owner Jerry Jones, discussed the low pay on the Netflix docuseries and said that the financial incentive is not what makes being a DCC appealing.
Instead, Jones believes cheerleaders are drawn by their “passion of dance” and to “find their purpose.”
“There’s a lot of cynicism around pay for NFL cheerleaders, as there should be. They’re not paid a lot. But the facts are that they actually don’t come here for the money. They come here for something that’s actually bigger than that to them,” she said, via the Dallas Morning News.
“They have a passion for dance. There are not a lot of opportunities in the field of dance, and to get to perform at an elite level. … It is about being a part of something bigger than themselves. It is about a sisterhood that they were able to form, about relationships that they have for the rest of their lives. They have a chance to feel like they’re valued, that they’re special and that they are making a difference. When the women come here, they find their passion and they find their purpose.”
MORE: Meet Kelcey Wetterberg: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader
While the Cowboys would not directly address speculation about the cheerleader pay, a Cowboys spokesperson said the team “pays cheerleaders for games, practices and appearances and covers the cost of uniforms, some meals, health club memberships and salon services.”
The women also work as dance instructors or other jobs in-season and during the offseason. Kelcey Wetterberg, for example, is a pediatric nurse.
On the show, she was filmed caring for a patient while balancing the high-pressure job as a nurse with the stress and daily routine of going through what it takes to be a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is streaming on Netflix now. The series features seven episodes that run approximately one hour each.
More Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders News
Dallas, TX
2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule officially announced
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Approves $180,500 for New Botham Jean Boulevard Street Signs
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
Dallas, TX
World Cup volunteers receive uniforms, new tickets released
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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