FRISCO, Texas (AP) — 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.”
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