The Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders has put NFL cheerleaders into the limelight during the sport’s offseason. And with all eyes on the hardest-working fans in the stadium, it begs an obvious question: Just how much do NFL cheerleaders get paid?
It turns out, not a whole lot.
NFL cheerleaders are contract workers, meaning they do not work for teams full-time and do not receive a salary. They are, instead, paid on a per-game or hourly basis.
That’s why on America’s Sweethearts you see the cheerleaders working second jobs, like group leader Kelcey Wetterberg, who is a pediatric nurse. Meanwhile cheerleading rookie Reece Allman works at a flower shop.
The answer varies. Cowboys cheerleaders are rumored to earn around $75,000 per year, but that doesn’t seem to match up with what current and former cheerleaders say on America’s Sweethearts.
“I would say I’m making, like, a substitute teacher [salary],” former Cowboys cheerleader Kat Puryear says in the docuseries. “I would say I’m making, like, Chick-fil-A worker that works full-time.”
As of a 2017 ESPN report, NFL cheerleaders made an average of $150 per game, plus additional money for practice time and public appearances, adding up to around $22,500 per year. Cowboys cheerleaders earned considerably more, around $500 per game, according to a 2022 report from NBC Boston.