Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders win a huge pay raise

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders have gained a significant victory … something the NFL team they work for hasn’t done in a while.

Arguably the most famous cheerleaders in the world, it traditionally hasn’t been a high-paying job. In 2019, the Cowboys settled a lawsuit with a former cheerleader that led to the squad doubling the per-game pay from $200 to $400.

That’s a 100% increase, but the cheerleaders are about to get a much larger bump in pay … 400%.

That’s according to a member of the squad, who revealed the pay raise during an episode of the Netflix series “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.”

“Our efforts were heard and they wanted to give us a raise,” four-year veteran Megan McElaney said on the show. “And we ended up getting a 400% increase, which is like, life-changing.”

It seems like the raise shouldn’t put too much of a dent into the wallet of team owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys are worth an estimated $10.1 billion, making them not only the most valuable team in the NFL, but also the world’s most valuable sports team.

The cheerleaders have been a fixture on the Cowboys’ sidelines since 1961. The squad saw its fame explode in the 1970s when former General Manager Tex Schramm had the squad begin wearing a more revealing uniform and begin performing dance routines, a departure from traditional cheerleading.

The cheerleaders have toured the world as part of USO shows, have appeared on TV shows and had a made-for-TV movies released in 1979 and 1980.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)