The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are unionizing

America’s highest-profile cheerleading squad has won a victory of its own: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have formed a union.

The union is believed to be the first in the nation among all pro-sports cheerleading squads, outside of a short-lived effort by the Buffalo Bills’ “Buffalo Jills” in the mid-1990s.

The Dallas cheerleaders’ bargaining unit has already been recognized by the Dallas Cowboys, according to a brief joint press release issued Friday by the team and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Association. The agreement came after “meaningful discussion” between the two sides, the release said.

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The next step will be bargaining for an official contract for the cheerleaders. The squad currently consists of 36 active members, though it is not clear how many will be officially represented by the union. “The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are an esteemed part of the Cowboys organization, deeply respected for their talent and dedication they exhibit,” the two groups said in the release.

Representatives for the Cheerleaders Association, which represents the squad, and the Dallas Cowboys did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.

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The announcement comes in the wake of a multiseason Netflix series, “America’s Sweethearts,” that has documented the ups and downs of the cheerleaders’ on- and offseason lives. The attention brought by the series helped earn them a 400% raise for the 2025 season, with some veteran dancers slated to receive more than $75 an hour, according to a New York Times report. An earlier lawsuit by a former cheerleader had accused the Cowboys of paying her less than minimum wage. The team ended up settling the suit.

During the Cowboys’ 1990s heyday, the cheerleaders made as little as $15 per game, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The squad dates to 1961 but didn’t professionalize until the early 1970s, when Cowboys President Tex Schramm hired local choreographer Texie Waterman, who helped come up with the squad’s trademark star-spangled outfit that is still worn today.