Most people think of NFL as money hungry and rich, but in fact there's one key player that this doesn't hold true for. If you frequent the games enough either at home or live, you may not recognize their faces, but still everyone knows who they are. They are front and center right near the action, but eyes aren't always on them. If you haven't guessed it let me help you out. NFL cheerleaders. They put in hard work and dedication similar to the players they cheer for, and commit to as many hours of practice as football team will for the game each week. Often cheerleaders are attending a university and continuing on to other careers after cheering for around 3 to 4 seasons. The members of a cheer / dance squad participate in training camps, games, special event appearances, photo shoots, as well as charity events. Yet the paycheck is much, much lower than you would think, considering they are professionals.
Let's cut to the chase. Cheerleaders in the NFL are payed around $100 per game. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are on the higher end of the payroll receiving $150 per game, where the San Diego Chargers (The Charger Girls), are on the lower end, only getting $75 a game. It all comes down to around $1,250 per person per season, give or take a few hundred depending on who you are cheering for.
Even though most cheerleaders use the NFL season as a part time job they most certainly are not paid enough for the hours that are put in, and it is not sitting to well as of recent with some of the NFL Cheerleading organization members.
In January, the Raiderettes (Raiders Cheerleaders) finally had had enough. A law suit was filed by two of the members, claiming the team allegedly "withheld all pay from the Raiderettes until after the season was completed, and did not pay for all hours that were worked by the cheerleaders as well as forced the cheerleaders to pay many of their own expenses as well as fines", according to CBS Sports and the San Jose Mercury news. The lawsuit ended up being a victory for the cheerleaders. The women now receive the minimum wage set for workers in California including overtime. This is only the beginning of change for the women working with the NFL. Cheerleaders from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, and the Cincinnati Bengals have all filed similar suits that are still pending.
Something I found interesting during my research of this topic was that both mascots and concession stand workers make a substantial amount of compensation especially compared to cheerleaders. For a season of work an NFL mascots make around $65,000, and $12 - $18 an hour is made by concession stand workers. Both much more than the $9 an hour (minimum wage) that cheerleaders are struggling to gain today.
In fact if you feel compelled to, Change.org has a petition addressing this situation that you can sign today. Its looking to increase the wage of all NFL cheerleaders and is addressed to Commissioner Roger Goodell as well as every NFL team owner. Feel free to click here to get involved. Cheerleader Wage Petition
Like all of life's passions, if cheerleading is what you love, the pay shouldn't matter all that much anyway. You should be there for the pure fun and love of cheering. The lengthy try out process helps weed out any girls not truly passionate about the team and only interested in making a pay check. If its something you are interestedi in I would persure it to the fullest of your abilities.
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