The stars of season 2 of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders reached new heights in their iconic white cowboy boots.
After the success of season 1 of the Netflix hit in 2024, the returning cheerleaders were on a mission to raise the wages for the squad. Viewers may recall that a major headline from season 1 was the women reportedly making $500 per game with hourly wages for practices and additional fees for other public appearances and events. As a result of the low wages, the majority of the cheerleaders worked several jobs while fulfilling their commitments with DCC.
“It’s a tough topic to start to have conversations [about],” veteran cheerleader Jada Mclean told Us Weekly during an exclusive interview ahead of the season 2 drop on Wednesday, June 18. “But we were pretty serious, as leaders, this was something that we really wanted to see a change happen.”
Jada was among the women who got the ball rolling during the 2024-25 football season, with the women planning a walkout after their contracts failed to show a significant increase following conversations with the Cowboys organization.
“It was the beginning of the season and we also had a great group of rookies who just wanted to cheer. So it was [hard] navigating how we wanted to have this positive change without affecting people who just worked so hard,” Jada told Us. “But [the rookies] understood we were looking out for them and their futures as cheerleaders as well as the women that come after us.”
Viewers learn on the show that the walkout plan was leaked to the Cowboys — seemingly by one of the cheerleaders — and never happened.
“A walkout was something that we talked about, but at the end of the day, we knew we all wanted to be on that field and as hard as it was to decide what the right choice was to do, we just decided we were gonna cheer,” Jada said. “But still stand firm in what we believed in. And at the end of season 2, there is a resolution that’s positive for us. We did the right thing, even though in the moment we were very unsure if we were making the right decisions or if this was gonna backfire.”
It’s revealed in the season 2 finale that the cheerleaders received a “400 percent” salary increase.
“I can’t go into too much detail, but I will say there’s an increase all around when it comes to hourly and appearance fees and just everything as a whole,” Jada told Us. “It’s a very great change and I think the girls are gonna benefit a lot from it moving forward.”
While Jada won’t be one of the cheerleaders who benefits from the new salary — she hung up her uniform after five years in the finale — she is proud of the legacy she’s leaving behind. “It’s gonna take a lot of the financial stresses out of their lives, which is something that we wanted to see,” she said. “I’ve struggled financially on this team and that was something that I didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with while they’re cheerleaders. I think they’re in a good position moving forward.”
Based on the Netflix series, Jada and the squad went directly to the Cowboys organization and didn’t converse with the cheerleaders’ leaders: head choreographer Judy Trammell and director Kelli Finglass.
“My goal was to keep the team’s momentum forward moving, and that’s exactly what we did,” Kelli told Us of hearing behind-the-scenes rumblings of a walkout. “We stayed focused on the job at hand. We knew there were some discussions going on. We also know that every spring, we reevaluate as an organization — all things on all programs. We’re thrilled that the girls are happy with the enhancements that are made. We had a great season with the cheerleaders. We didn’t win as many football games as we wanted to, but this group of cheerleaders they’ve had a very, very special year.”
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Judy, for her part, made an eyebrow-raising comment about how she found it more impressive for the women to balance traditional jobs with their cheerleading career vs. focusing on DCC and capitalizing off of their fame with an influencing career (something else that is explored in season 2 with the success of season 1).
“I still kind of feel that way,” Judy admitted to Us when asked about the remark. “We have been so proud of their careers and I get that it’s going in a different direction — influencing — than we’re used to. So if they can make money that way too, then I guess they’re better off for it. But I don’t know, it was a new thing for us to hear about and that a lot of them have quit their jobs to become full-time influencers. And I guess we helped them along the way and this has been a good forum for them to progress with that.”
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is streaming on Netflix.
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