Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Unionize After 400% Pay Raise

By Grace Kim

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders won union recognition days before the team beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-21 on Monday Night Football, after a 400% pay raise that excluded health insurance. The announcement named a bargaining representative but disclosed no post-raise wage schedule, health plan or negotiation timetable.

What does union recognition change?

According to NBC News, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association will serve as the squad’s collective bargaining representative. The franchise and the cheerleaders announced the decision a few days before the Philadelphia game. The recognition landed in a week that also included the 38-21 win.

The two sides said in a joint statement: “The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are an esteemed part of the Cowboys organization, deeply respected for the talent and dedication they exhibit.” The statement affirmed the squad’s place in the organization and its reputation for talent and dedication. It did not set out economic terms.

In plain terms, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association will represent the squad in collective bargaining.

How much did pay actually change?

The squad’s compensation history stretches from $15 a game in the 1990s to a 400% raise before the 2025 season. Three figures frame the labor dispute:

• Before the 2025 season: The cheerleaders received a 400% pay raise, but the package did not include health insurance.
• 2024: Veteran cheerleader Jada McLean told The New York Times that she made $15 an hour and $500 per appearance.
• 1990s: According to The Dallas Morning News, squad members made as little as $15 a game.

Netflix’s “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” put the pay issue in the spotlight. The 2025 increase addressed compensation, but the exclusion of health insurance kept benefits in the labor dispute. The announcement did not disclose McLean’s post-raise earnings, the appearance fee after the increase or the terms of the new package.

The figures establish a long-running low base and a large recent increase. They leave the current economics of a veteran cheerleader’s work undisclosed. In plain terms, the raise was substantial, but the present pay-and-benefits package remains unclear.

Why does the NFL precedent matter?

The Buffalo Jills unionized in 1995, but the squad later disbanded, according to NBC News. That history leaves the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association as the only active cheerleader union in the NFL.

Buffalo and Dallas both organized their cheerleaders. The difference is durability: Buffalo’s union disappeared with the squad, while Dallas enters collective bargaining with current franchise recognition. No other active NFL cheerlighter union provides a current example of Dallas’s arrangement.

The Buffalo precedent shows that forming a union does not guarantee that it will remain active. Dallas has cleared the recognition threshold, but the result will rest on what the new bargaining relationship produces. In plain terms, Dallas has done what Buffalo did, but the earlier team’s union did not last.

What comes next?

Health insurance is the first disclosed gap. The 400% raise increased pay without adding that benefit, and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association now has an official role to carry out.

No public bargaining targets were specified in the announcement. That matters because a 400% headline does not establish take-home pay, appearance fees or health benefits on its own.

The practical test starts with McLean’s last disclosed numbers—$15 an hour and $500 per appearance in 2024—and The Dallas Morning News’ finding that squad members made as little as $15 a game in the 1990s. The next set of negotiated terms will show whether recognition changes those economics.

The association now has an official bargaining role; whether it improves earnings and health coverage will determine the union’s value beyond the announcement.