The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are still riding the high from their major pay raises earlier this year — but they know there’s still more work to be done.
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders star Reece Weaver was “really proud of the outcome” after fighting for more money, she told Us Weekly exclusively at the Netflix Summer Break event hosted at Santa Monica Pier on Thursday, July 17.
“I know a lot of people really led that, but we all supported it. We all just wanted to not only do this for our team, but for all the women that came before us and … for just women in general,” Reece, 23, told Us. “It was just a blessing to be a part of and we’re just super proud of it.”
Kelly Villares agreed, noting that it was a “really revolutionizing” success for the dance industry overall.
“We’re hoping to see improvements in the NFL cheer world as well,” she added.
Charly Barby said she is “really proud” of the “extraordinary” moves the “entire team” was able to make.
Us Weekly shared exclusive details last month that the cheer squad received a giant salary increase just before America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders season 2 premiered on Netflix.
The show’s first season, which took the world by storm in 2024, revealed that the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders reportedly made only around $500 per game along with hourly wages for practices and some fees for public appearances and events.
“It’s a tough topic to start to have conversations [about],” cheerleader Jada Mclean told Us before the second season’s June 18 premiere. “But we were pretty serious, as leaders, this was something that we really wanted to see a change happen.”
Jada was one of the veteran cheerleaders who led the charge for more money.
“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,” she added. “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.”
The season 2 finale revealed that the women received “400 percent” salary increases.
“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.”