NFL Cheerleaders?

Question

Does anyone know what they make a year? Do they have a contract?

Answer 1

Dear Yahoo!:
Do NFL cheerleaders receive a salary?
Hopeful
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Dear Hopeful:
Following a thorough investigation of Yahoo!'s NFL Cheerleaders category, we found a rough approximation of what these women earn per game. The outfits donned by these dancing dervishes aren't the only skimpy aspect of the job -- turns out the pay per game is rather minimal.
After clicking through a few of the official sites, we finally found one that stated exactly how much their cheerleaders make per game. On the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders page, we clicked on the "2003 Audition Information" link and then selected "Rules and Regulations." It states:

Cheerleaders are paid $50.00 per home game.
There is no pay schedule for rehearsals.
Opportunities for paid appearances and shows are available!
So for the privilege of being one of the lucky 30 or 40 who make the final cut, the Cowgirls stand to earn approximately $500 ($50 x 10 home games).
That's what the Cowboys pay, but what about other squads? Most don't list any sort of pay scale, but the San Diego Charger Girls make $60 per home game, the St. Louis Rams squad makes $50 per game, and the Seattle Seahawks Sea Gals make an unspecified hourly wage. To back up our research, we found this page that offers Pro Cheer tips. It states, "The pay may range from only $15 to $50 per game."

For obvious reasons, most of the NFL cheerleader sites make it perfectly clear that the women are required to hold down a full-time job in addition to their Sunday duties. The paltry pay of $500 doesn't even cover a month's worth of hair-care products for some of these professionals, much less living expenses for an entire year.

But don't weep for these women. If you refer back to point #3 in the Cowboys pay package, you'll see that income can extend beyond the bounds of the gridiron. Cheerleaders are in demand to appear at various functions, model for calendars, and perform shows outside of the stadium to help extend the NFL brand. For an idea of what it can cost to have cheerleaders appear at your special event, we found this page on the Buffalo Jills site detailing their pricing structure. In exchange for low wages, these aspiring women make money on these side gigs while receiving valuable exposure.

NFL cheerleaders can also participate in a wide variety of modeling jobs, public appearances, and television gigs. For example, lucky Washington Redskins cheerleaders helped soldiers clean their guns and met with such Hollywood luminaries as Jim Belushi. So while they don't make very much for waving their pom-poms, cheerleaders always have something to fall back on.

Answer 2

I can't tell you about all teams, but I do know that the 49er cheerleaders (The Goldrush Girls) do not have a salary, but get paid per game. They are not paid for practice times and depending on the appearance, generally are not paid for public appearances.

They do have to sign a contract that limits the outside work they can do, the color and length of their hair, and a lot of other things about their activities and appearance. The girls make money from the sale of the cheerleader calendar -- they buy them at a discount and sell them at a premium.

Answer 3

not much i want to say like $25 a game i saw some show one time, but they do it more for exposure !!