DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are unionizing.
The NFL franchise has agreed to recognize the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association as the collective bargaining representative for one of professional sports’ most famous cheer squads, both sides said in a joint statement Friday. The move follows years of the cheerleaders fighting for pay increases.
“The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are an esteemed part of the Cowboys organization, deeply respected for the talent and dedication they exhibit,” the statement said. “They remain one of the most sought-after opportunities for talented dancers worldwide.”
Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders perform before an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026.
AP Photo/Andre Penner
During the second season of the Netflix series “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” which aired last year, one of the cheerleaders said a 400% boost in pay.
The Cowboys settled a 2019 lawsuit with a former cheerleader, which led to the squad doubling per-game pay to $400.
The first cheerleading squad to unionize was the Buffalo Jills, the Buffalo Bills’ squad. The Jills won a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board in 1995 that allowed them to form the National Football League Cheerleaders Association, and they voted to join it. The squad later disbanded following a 2014 lawsuit filed by former Jills who said they worked hundreds of hours for free and were subjected to groping and sexual comments.
Virginia Commonwealth University professor Victor Chen, a sociologist who studies labor issues, said Friday that the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders likely benefited from their high profile and the Netflix show.
Chen said that without that notoriety, the team may have tried to replace the cheerleaders because so many people are willing to take low-paying jobs in the entertainment industry.
“So you see a lot of that inequality of compensation in any sort of artistic or entertainment field where you have lots of people clamoring to get into it and maybe being unpaid or very poorly paid to do so,” Chen said.
Forbes magazine says the Cowboys are the most valuable pro sports team in the world.
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