Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 'Excited About the Future' After Fighting for 400% Pay Increase

Published: June 18, 2025

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are looking forward to their future with the organization after being given a 400% increase in compensation. The second season of the docuseries America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders," which is now streaming on Netflix, showcases their fight for fair compensation. By the end of the season, the ladies are given a 400% increase in pay for the 2025 season.

According to NBC Sports, the cheerleaders had been earning $15 to $20 per hour or $500 per game, making their yearly salary approximately $75,000, while NFL cheerleaders typically earn around $150 per game, with an average yearly salary of about $22,500.

Jada McLean, 22, tells PEOPLE how she and her fellow dancers reacted to seeing their fight for fair pay play out on screen. "I feel like the show represented that very well and accurately," McLean says, adding that she and the other DCC ladies are "all pretty excited about the future of the compensation with the team."

Program director Kelli Finglass and head choreographer Judy Trammell agree with McLean. "I think that as coaches, we're excited that the enhancements were made and our cheerleaders are happy and a happy team is a productive team, and I'm very proud of their value and their worth and how they feel about their role in that and how they stood up for it," says Trammell, 67.

Beyond fair compensation, the dancers say the Cowboys organization offers them adequate mental health resources as well. "They do offer that through the Cowboys," McLean says. "And also, we're all really close as teammates, and I know that if anyone's going through anything, they have 35 other girls to talk to, and we're the type of people that want to have our teammates get help if that's something that they need."

Latimer, whose journey with alopecia is documented in the second season of the show, adds, "And you have to remember, we see each other every single day pretty much. So if someone comes in and they seem a little off, we're not going to notice and we'll pull them aside and have a chat with them and say, 'Hey, what's going on today? Anything you need to talk about?' So I think we're pretty good at doing that."

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