Dallas Cowboys’ Charlotte Jones Responded To Cheerleader Pay Backlash
— Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire/Getty ImagesIn case you missed it, Netflix’s hit new docuseries America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders has been taking over social media since its release on June 20, becoming the number-one TV show in the US this week and sparking major fan discourse along the way.The docuseries, which follows new hopefuls, returning veterans and retired alumni of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders throughout the 2023 season, unveiled some surprising realities about the renowned cheer squad — including (spoilers) that they don’t get to keep their uniforms and have to re-audition every year. But the biggest surprise for many came when the show revealed that many of the cheerleaders still have full-time jobs, because they don’t make enough performing on the team. — Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images“I would say I’m making, like, a substitute teacher [salary],” former Cowboys cheerleader Kat Puryear said during one confessional. “I would say I’m making, like, Chick-fil-A worker that works full-time.”This news came as a major shock to many viewers. Several took to the official team account to share their anger — specifically calling out Dallas Cowboys chief brand officer Charlotte Jones, whose family runs the organization and was featured heavily on the Netflix show.“The entire show put such a emphasis on how important the DCC is to this organization and to learn that they are making a unlivable salary to the point where these women have to work multiple jobs is truly insane,” one wrote. “This is the Dallas Cowboys enterprise we are talking about here, they are worth 9 billion dollars?!?!? Do better Charlotte.” — Joe Scarnici/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesOn Friday, Jones finally responded to these claims, saying that the women don’t actually audition for money, but rather for “sisterhood” and a “passion for dance” in a field where there aren’t a lot of opportunities “to perform at an elite level.”“There’s a lot of cynicism around pay for NFL cheerleaders, as there should be,” Jones told Dallas Morning News. “They’re not paid a lot. But the facts are that they actually don’t come here for the money. They come here for something that’s actually bigger than that to them.”Still, the series showed a sliver of what it takes to actually make ends meet for that dream. A few of the trainees like Kelcey Wetterberg and Anisha Kurukulasuriya worked jobs in the medical field — Wetterberg is a pediatric nurse and Kurukulasuriya an orthodontist — while others who moved to Dallas for the squad, like Reece Allman and Ari McClure, had to find gigs to supplement their income.How Much Money Do Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Make?NBC reported that Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders earn about $500 per game in 2022, which breaks down to about $15 to $20 an hour. That’s still a lot higher than the NFL average, which is about $150 a game, or $22,500 per year, on average. Compare that to the NFL water boys, who made an average $53,000 per year in 2022, and the NFL mascots who made about $25,000 per season.According to Forbes, the Dallas Cowboys were the NFL’s most valuable team last year, estimated at a worth of $9 billion. — Brandon Sloter/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesA Cowboys spokesperson told Sports Illustrated that the team "pays cheerleaders for games, practices and appearances and covers the cost of uniforms, some meals, health club memberships and salon services.”Director Greg Whiteley told Glamour that he never got a clear answer on how much a cheerleader actually made while filming the docuseries, though. “I think that’s because it varies depending on how senior you are in the group,” he said. “You may even get paid more if you’re a group leader, though that was never clear to me.”
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