The Dallas Cowboys have agreed to recognize a union formed by the team's cheerleaders, clearing the way for the squad to bargain over a contract for the first time.
The team and the newly formed Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association announced the voluntary recognition Friday, Oct. 23, in a joint statement. The two sides said they reached the agreement after "meaningful discussion" and will now begin collective bargaining. Tad Carper, the Cowboys' senior vice president of communications, confirmed the recognition to The Dallas Morning News, NBC 5 reported.
The association becomes the squad's bargaining representative. The squad, founded in 1961, has 36 active members, but neither side has said how many of them the union will represent. Neither the team nor the association has released a timeline for talks or a list of what the cheerleaders will seek.
Pay has been the main point of friction for years. Former cheerleader Erica Wilkins sued the team in 2018 over her compensation. The case was settled in 2019, and afterward the game-day rate doubled from $200 to $400 and the hourly wage rose to $12, according to NBC 5 and The Associated Press.
The squad's pay drew more attention after the Netflix series "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders." A cheerleader featured on the show said the squad got a 400% raise for the 2025 season, and some veteran members were expected to make more than $75 an hour after that increase, according to The National News Desk.
