The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders Are Getting a 400% Pay Increase

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders say they are getting a serious increase in pay. One of the cheerleaders has said during the second season of the Netflix series "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" that the members are getting a 400% boost in pay.
The cheerleaders have been pushing for pay increases for years. 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. The latest raise is four times that.
"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."
According to ESPN, the Cowboys agreed to pay four cheerleaders a total of $2.4 million nine years ago to settle claims by the women that the team's longtime public relations chief, Rich Dalrymple, filmed them in the dressing room.
Dalrymple denied the claims, and the club said its investigation found no wrongdoing by him. Dalrymple retired not long before the settlement became public in 2022.
The Cowboys have been the most valuable pro sports team in the world for almost a decade, according to Forbes magazine. That number was $10.1 billion in rankings published late last year.
"Happy' isn't even the right word for it," former cheerleader Jada McLean said on the show. "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."
Reporting by The Associated Press.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Dallas Cowboys National Football League
recommended
Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indianapolis Star

28 minutes ago

• Indianapolis Star

Will Buxton 1 on 1: Formula 1 regret leads to exploring America through calling IndyCar races

A onetime writer and lifelong devotee of Formula 1 who grew up in the United Kingdom, Will Buxton makes his living these days broadcasting IndyCar races on American television. Tabbed as the lead announcer for Fox Sports' inaugural season alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe, the excitable and gregarious 44-year-old has immersed himself in the history, prepared tirelessly and learned on the fly. Buxton, who had been to only three tracks on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule before taking the role, will reach the halfway point of his 17-race rookie season during the June 20-22 XPEL Grand Prix at Elkhart Lake's Road America. In a half-hour conversation with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Buxton talked about growing into the job, criticism, regrets, the season, the tracks — in particular the rural Wisconsin road course that comes next — and what he's trying to accomplish both on the Fox broadcasts and away from the booth. Here are highlights. Question: As the series hits the midpoint this weekend, how is your comfort level? Answer: I don't think you could ever be entirely comfortable doing play by play, I don't think you ever should be entirely comfortable doing play by play. There's always nerves. There's always massive tension. That expectation of the unknown is part of the allure. It's part of what keeps you coming back. We take what we do very, very seriously. We have a lot of fun doing it, but we all go into it with a huge amount of nerves every single broadcast, because you care. Can you characterize how your confidence level or however you want to describe it compares to before the season started? I wouldn't call it confidence. I think it's more comfort in terms of being more engrained with the championship, building more relationships, feeling more established and OK, we're not even half a season in, but that's the way the IndyCar Series is. It's incredibly open-armed and welcoming, and to have felt that has really aided my learning process and my ability, hopefully, to be able to bring out these characters and these stories and get people immersed in the wonder of IndyCar. Have you spent much time studying the broadcasts or does it pretty much need to be full steam ahead at this point yet? As difficult as it is and as horrible as it is to have to listen back to your own voice, yeah, every, every race, every week, every session, we all watch them back individually. We make notes, we bring them to bear at production meetings or private meetings and personal meetings that we have with the production crew, because we're always looking for ways that we can improve. And I think if we take the (St. Petersburg, Florida, season opener) and compare it to the St Louis race, (it's) a completely different broadcast, I think, a completely different sound, a very different look. And that goes not just for me, but for every member of the team. We have a brilliant director in Mitch Riggin who had never directed a single lap of racing, of auto racing, until we got to St. Pete. We have a diverse crew who have been involved in multiple sports, some of them in racing, some of them not in racing over their careers, and they've all been brought together to try to bring something fresh and something different to IndyCar. There's always things we can learn from (what) the fans are saying and the feedback that the fans are bringing to us. I think one of the most noticeable parts of that has been the pylon on the left-hand side of the screen that denotes who is where and what stage of the race they're in, what tires they might be running. That has changed every single race and I think that really exemplifies the constant desire to grow and to learn and to improve. Insider: Rising IndyCar star David Malukas knows 'I need to mature' on track, 'switch off' Team Penske rumors What you say is instantly out there forever. Are there a couple of things you said that you'd like to have back? About 98% of it. That's the addiction. That's what brings you back every time. You know there is no such thing as a perfect broadcast, there never will be, and the day that anybody achieves that, that's the day you quit, because it's never going to get any better. I started out in print. And I loved having the time to be able to craft and edit and amend and then get your article to a place where you are so happy with it, and then you send it in, and your editor ruins it. So to sort of be unedited is both freeing and also terrifying. You can try to polish it too much, and you can try to make it too perfect, but then it doesn't sound real, and you're not reacting in the moment. And the one thing that we want to do with this broadcast, and the one thing that we as a booth want to do, with myself and Townsend and James, is make the folks at home feel like they're sitting on the couch with us and that our reactions are their reactions and anytime something big happens, it's almost like you're jumping over the couch at them and putting your arm around the viewer and be like, 'Come on, my god, look at this, this is crazy,' and bring them in for the ride. Even the great calls, the legendary calls that go down in history and that we have, that resonate in our minds forever, the announcers who made those calls, they will still look at it and think, timing was a bit off, could have used a different word there. Insider: Why IndyCar's 1 million viewers on Sunday night is good ... but not as good as it looks How do you deal with critics? Anyone who likes to jump on social media and tell me that they don't think I'm good enough, trust me, that thought goes through my mind daily. You should always strive to be better and strive to improve. I find social media a challenge. There's been a very clear shift over the past decade from where it was as a place of community and interaction and trying to share joy and positivity to something that is now inherently negative and can be quite painfully toxic. And I find that a real sadness, because what it has done is it has made me intentionally kind of draw back from the interaction that I used to enjoy so much, and that interaction was all about bringing fans closer to the sport, but it's so difficult not to be affected by the tidal wave of negativity that I have kind of had to take a step back. But I do occasionally go on, and I do occasionally search my own name and have a bit of a giggle at some of the hideous stuff that is written, because you can't take it seriously. There's a great mantra out there, which is don't take criticism from people you wouldn't take advice from, and that's a good one to go along with. 'It's terrifying': Meet Will Buxton, next voice of IndyCar. (He's never attended an Indy 500.) I imagine Indianapolis was an outsized portion of your early preparation. How has the work or the focus changed since May? Actually, I've dedicated I'd say probably equal time to every race and to the championship and the history as a whole. Growing up in Europe, Formula 1 was the sport that I watched the most, and so a lot of its history and its major moments were things that just sort of seeped their way into my subconscious through osmosis. IndyCar is a championship I've always loved, but it wasn't as readily available in the European market as it was in the American market. And so the history and that side of the knowledge base that I need to have, I have had to work at that, and I will always have to work at that in order to get myself to that same place. The 500 was really interesting for me, and I did spend, obviously, quite a bit of time going into the history of it. The 500 is 110 years of history. You just have to do that much more to be that more aware of everything that has gone on there. But with every race weekend, I think you know, the first part for me is learning the recent history, certainly learning the history of the current drivers and what they've achieved on that track and how they might fare there. You've been to some of the tracks on the schedule, but not all, right? Pretty much every track for me is a new experience. I'd done the Milwaukee Mile (as a pit reporter). I'd been to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to do qualifying, but never the 500. I've been to Road America, that we're going to this week, but only as a guest of (racer-turned-broadcaster and fellow Englishman) David Hobbs when we were colleagues back in the NBC and Speed Channel days (of Formula 1 coverage in the United States), because he has a house out at Elkhart Lake. So been there, been to Siebkens (a famous local hotel/restaurant/bar with a long reputation among racers). Just once. Barber (Motorsports Park), for me, absolutely blew my mind. It was like an amalgamation of some of the most beautiful European racing circuits that I've ever visited. Going and doing a race under the lights on a short course oval like we did at (World Wide Technology Raceway outside) St. Louis was absolutely incredible. I'd been to Belle Isle before, so I've been to Detroit, but I'd never done the Detroit street race before, so it's lovely What I'm discovering is, and what I love about this year, is for my entire professional life, I've been used to traveling the world and experiencing different countries and different cultures. And I think it's true what people say about America, that every state and every city within those states you know, is almost like visiting a different country. … I'm loving that kind of cultural discovery of America. What were your impressions of the actual racetrack in your time at Road America? Hobbo actually took me out in a road car at Road America. And yeah, it's a tough track. The drivers all recognize it as a very, very tricky circuit. One of the ones they enjoy the most, obviously, is a circuit steeped in history, and one that you love to see still being on the calendar, because it's one of those ones that really means something to people. But I loved it. I loved driving around. I loved visiting Siebkens and the historical aspect of it. And I think that's what's so wonderful about this championship, going to your classic racetracks like your Laguna Secas and Long Beach and obviously Indianapolis and Road America and places like that, and then also discovering circuits that have only been on the calendar for a decade or less. We've got Arlington coming onto the calendar next year as a brand new race. I actually really enjoyed Thermal, and I know it gets bad press but I enjoyed the facility. I enjoyed the race. Because, again, I come from the world of Formula 1. We had drivers fighting their way up through the field. Will Power had an amazing race that day, and then we had a guy who had sat in third place for most of the race, came out 11 seconds behind the leader, and over the course of the next 10 laps, battled past the two dominant cars of the weekend and pulled off into the distance to win. That in Formula 1 terms is a generational race, but in IndyCar terms was seen to be somewhat below par, and that really taught me a very early lesson about what the expectations are in this championship for an exciting race. As the series has moved from place to place to place, have you had the opportunity to take in the surroundings, or has it been mostly hotel, booth and back? One of the big regrets of my 25 years in Formula 1 was that I don't think I took as many opportunities as I should have done to go out and explore and experience some of the amazing places that I got to visit. I went to China I want to say 12, 13, 14 times (covering Formula 1 as a journalist or broadcast host). I've never seen the Great Wall other than flying over it. Admittedly, the race was nowhere near it, but you'd think you'd probably try and take some time. We went to India a couple of times. I never got to the Taj Mahal. Those things, they're regrets, because you don't get to travel to those places all the time, and when you're traveling there for work, I probably should have taken a couple of days and got out and seen some of the great wonders of the world. I am trying to go and see everything I can. When we went to Barber, I made a point on my first day there, because I had about a half a day where I knew I wasn't needed to do anything, I went and explored the history of Birmingham, the civil rights movement, which is still very recent history of America ... and how important that is, not just to the history of this country, but to the present and the future of this country. And I'm trying to do that everywhere I go. I'm trying to take in the city, the area, the history, together, a fuller context of not just where I am in the moment and that city, but the country, which is one that I love. I've broadcast in America for such a long time, be it with Formula 1 or now with IndyCar, and I feel immensely privileged to be able to do so, but I don't think that you can properly broadcast to a nation unless you fully understand its history and its complex history and what makes the people and what makes the country what it is. So I'm trying to do that everywhere I go. 'Blown out of proportion': Nolan Siegel's radio rant no biggie for Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin After a wild night at World Wide Raceway, what are you looking for this weekend? St. Louis looked like it was going to be a Chevy weekend, and especially like it was going to be a Penske weekend. (Josef) Newgarden looked phenomenal. Obviously, (Will) Power took the pole. And then in the race itself, (Conor) Daly was so impressive. (Christian) Rasmussen was unbelievable. (Pato) O'Ward was in the hunt the entire night. And yet, here we are with not just another Honda win, but another Kyle Kirkwood win. And I think people have been sleeping on Kyle Kirkwood for too long. … And now he's emerged as the guy most likely to challenge Alex (Palou) for the title in 2025 and it's a wonderful story, and it's one I can't wait to tell. But can Penske find a way back? They're having an absolutely horrible season, and everything that could go wrong seems to be going wrong for them. So that's a fascinating narrative, and there are just so many young drivers looking for their breakthrough moment. (David) Malukas has been so impressive over the last few races, and I brought up Rasmussen, he's been mega as well, sixth at the Indy 500, third last time out in St. Louis. A wonderful breakthrough performance for PREMA Racing as well, with (Robert) Shwartzman finishing in the top 10 for them for the first time. There are so many great stories in the NTT IndyCar Series, and that's one of the things that brought me over from F1 was the fact that this, at its heart, is a drivers championship, where the driver makes the difference. And on any given Sunday, it doesn't matter where you start the race, you have a chance to win.

Yahoo

2 hours ago

• Yahoo

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Just Got A Massive Raise. Here's How Much They Make In 2025.

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." It's easy to fall in love with the Netflix's hit docuseries, America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. After all, these women work hard and make it clear they're high-level athletes, pushing themselves to their limits just to make the team and compete throughout the season. But season 1 of the series also highlighted how little the cheerleaders are compensated for their hard work. In fact, their low salaries forced many of the women to get other jobs just to pay the bills. But now, that's all changing. In the brand new second season of the show, viewers learn that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders will receive a pay raise of about 400 percent for the 2025 season. The pay increase follows years of criticism about how little these women make, despite their long hours on the job. One former cheerleader, Erica Wilkins, even sued the squad in 2018, alleging unfair pay and claiming that she made about $7 per hour with no overtime pay and a flat rate of $200 per game. In total, that salary ended up being less than the yearly salary of the team's mascot, Rowdy. While that case was settled out of court in 2019, the squad's salaries have stayed low. But how much did the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders get paid before this hefty bump, and what will they make now? Here's everything to know about their salaries. NFL cheerleaders typically make around $150 per game, ESPN reported in 2017, making their yearly salaries about $22,500 per year, on average. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which adds up to a yearly salary of $15,080. In comparison, NFL water boys usually make $53,000 per year and NFL mascots make $25,000 per season, NBC Sports Boston wrote in 2022. There are ways to earn more: Cheerleaders also receive anywhere from $50 to $75 for public appearances, according to the outlet. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are actually one of the highest-paid squads. They previously earned about $15-20 per hour, or $500 per game. This made their yearly salary about $75,000, per NBC Sports Boston. "I would say I'm making, like, a substitute teacher [salary]," DCC alumna Kat Puryear said in a confessional on season one of the show. "I would say I'm making, like, Chick-fil-A worker that works full-time." Many of these women have other jobs, too. On season one, we see that first group leader Kelcey Wetterberg is a pediatric registered nurse, while Reece Allman worked at a flower shop. After the first season came out, America's Sweethearts director Greg Whiteley said that he "never" got a clear answer on how much a DCC made. "I think that's because it varies depending on how senior you are in the group," he told Glamour. "You may even get paid more if you're a group leader, though that was never clear to me." He did confirm that the DCC were paid more than other NFL cheerleaders. "As far as NFL cheerleaders go, I can say this with a high degree of confidence: the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are on the highest end of that pay scale," he said. "I've heard horror stories of what a typical NFL cheerleader makes, but the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders fall into a new category. None of them are rich. None of them are getting paid a ton, but it isn't the same dearth of payment that I think other NFL cheerleaders have to experience." If the DCC previously made about $75,000 per year, how much would their leader, director Kelli Finglass, have made in comparison? While there isn't a lot out there about her exact salary, she has a net worth of $1.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. That's still not clear. While the seventh episode of the season 2 notes that the women will receive a big pay boost, there are still no hard and fast numbers on what they used to make or how much they'll make in the future. If they previously made about $75,000 a year, and we're being told there's a 400 percent pay increase, that means their salaries will likely jump to about $300,000 annually—a massive change. Unfortunately, this isn't a new issue. Some NFL cheerleaders made as little as $5 per hour in 2014, according to PBS. In America's Sweethearts, archival footage shows that the DCC once made as little as $15 per game. "I think my game-day fee was $35, and we basically donated that back," Tina Kalina, who cheered for the DCC in 1989, said in America's Sweethearts. "These millennials, X-Gen—whatever they're called—they do look at it as a job, where as us old-timers look at it as more of a privilege." These low salaries are because NFL cheerleaders are independent contractors, not salaried workers, meaning teams are not necessarily required to pay the cheerleaders salaries in line with state or federal minimum wages, according to NBC Sports Boston. Charlotte Jones, Dallas Cowboys chief brand officer and daughter of the team's owner Jerry Jones, told Netflix cameras during season 1 that the cheerleaders "don't come here for the money." "They have a passion for dance. There are not a lot of opportunities in the field of dance to get to perform at an elite level," she said. "It is about being part of something bigger than themselves." Many NFL cheerleaders have turned to the legal system to fight for better salaries. In 2014, former Oakland Raiders cheerleader Lacy Thibodeaux-Fields filed the first class-action lawsuit against the NFL regarding cheerleaders' compensation, alleging wage theft and gender discrimination, per The Guardian. More lawsuits followed, including one from a Buffalo Bills cheerleader who claimed she received just $105 for an entire season after paying more than $600 for her uniform. By the fall of 2020, 10 of the NFL's 32 teams had been sued for wage theft, harassment, unsafe working conditions or discrimination, the outlet writes. Richard Dalrymple, former public relations head of the Dallas Cowboys, was accused of secretly filming cheerleaders in their dressing room in 2015. A fan also accused Dalrymple of taking lewd photos of Charlotte Jones, per Bleacher Report. The team settled the case for $2.4 million in 2022, with around $400,000 going to each of the four accusing cheerleaders, according to NBC News. Dalrymple retired in February 2022. Many of those lawsuits have been settled privately, per The Guardian. In the years since, many NFL cheerleading squads have made changes, including switching up their uniforms, adding men to their rosters, or even getting rid of the teams altogether. It's not clear at this point whether the new salary changes will cause other professional cheerleading squads to raise their salaries as well. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are known for being one of the best and most well-known squads out there, and what they do isn't necessarily reflected in other organizations. Still, some other organizations may raise their rates in order to remain competitive. You Might Also Like Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals

Yahoo

4 hours ago

• Yahoo

Michael Irvin Pulling For Deion Sanders After Home Visit

Michael Irvin Pulling For Deion Sanders After Home Visit originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Deion Sanders has said he'll be returning to Boulder ahead of the Colorado Buffaloes 2025 season. However, there is no timeline on when as he continues to deal with an unknown health issue at his estate in Texas. Advertisement Sanders got a visit from his Pro Football Hall of Fame teammate Michael Irvin last week. The Dallas Cowboys legend spoke briefly on Coach Prime's health during an episode of his podcast after seeing him. "Whenever I'm with him, we laugh like I don't know what," Irvin said. "This is my boy. I battled with this dude. I know how strong this dude is. I know how he is. He's physically strong, mentally strong, emotionally strong. He's strong. And we've had battles, and I respect him as a giant." Sanders has dealt with notable health issues over the past five years. He hasn't been at full strength, but Irvin left feeling confident Sanders will be back on track soon. "I've never seen Deion not want to battle," Irvin said. "I guarantee you he's going to be ok. That's the most important part." Irvin didn't explain what's going on with Sanders and will allow him to tell the world when's ready. Not much is known about what Coach Prime might be dealing with and it's unclear whether this latest round is related to the series of previous health issues, including blood clots in his lower extremities. Advertisement Sanders admitted to former NFL defensive back Asante Samuel that his latest illness caused him to lose 14 pounds. 'What I'm dealing with right now is a whole other level," Sanders said. Related: Deion Sanders Reveals He's Been Battling Health Issues During Offseason Despite the concerns, Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million extension with Colorado back in March. He became the highest-paid coach in the Big 12 conference. The Buffaloes open the 2025 season against Georgia Tech on Friday, August 29 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.