When it comes to the topic of the Super Bowl, the amount revenue made from this one game of year is so great that you would think that many people involved would be paid a decent amount. Especially if the cheapest ticket available is $3,000, there should be no reason for anyone to get underpaid. However, many do not know that the NFL cheerleaders actually are extremely underpaid. Not even just in the Super Bowl, but also during the regular season.
The wage gap has been an ongoing issue in the professional football for many years, but was just brought to America’s attention only a few years ago. People started to take notice when a cheerleader from the Oakland Raiders filed a lawsuit for wage theft. From this one incident many other cheerleaders from different teams started to come forward about this issue. However, there are some teams like the New England Patriots who paid their cheerleaders well, but this is not the case for most cheerleaders for most NFL football teams. The most cheerleaders earn is around $1,000 a game, when the minimum is only $100 a game. This is vast difference between the different teams, and it is unfair for these professional cheerleaders to be cut short. Especially the amount of work these cheerleaders put in and are put through, and they only get paid the bare minimum? For instance, they are expected to be in such phenomenal shape, and are criticized if they are not which could put strain on their mental health. Many have to do a, “jiggle test,” which is when they have to do jumping jacks and their coaches see if their body parts are jiggling too much. Therefore, these cheerleaders must go through so much training to be considered acceptable for their job. Also, the NCAA does not even consider cheerleading a sport, even though some tumble which puts their bodies at risk of getting hurt. Another point made is that the team mascot for each NFL team gets paid more than the cheerleaders. Which seems crazy because the work the cheerleaders go through is much more tedious than the training the mascot has to go through. However, some do believe that these cheerleaders do in fact know what they are getting into. They believe they do it for the title of being a NFL cheerleader, and is almost like an unpaid internship to give them more connections for their future. Therefore, this side of argument promotes the idea as to why we should care the cheerleaders are getting underpaid. However, if you bring up the question if what if this was your daughter makes people think. Yes, many of these cheerleaders could possibly do it for the title, but should that take away from their efforts they bring to the game?
All in all, many NFL teams have changed some of their wages for their cheerleaders, but mostly only because lawsuits were starting to form against them. Even some came to a settlement. This is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately not all of the teams have been making significant changes for their cheerleaders. Even though people do not go these sporting events to go see the cheerleaders, they are still an aspect to the team and the NFL in general. They need to be valued for their hard work. They are not doing it for the money, or to be recognized to be as sport. They are asking to be considered more, and not left as the least important part of the NFL teams. Therefore, people need to stop asking why they want to be cheerleaders in the first place, but why the NCAA does not value their role more. In my opinion, if they do not seem to care about the concerns of these cheerleaders then why do they want them for these teams? If they are not willing to pay them an appropriate salary then why does the NCAA want the NFL teams to have NFL cheerleaders at all.
Work Cited:
Reader, Ruth. “NFL Cheerleader Pay: This Super Bowl, Let’s Remember The Ultimate Wage Gap.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 5 Feb. 2018, www.fastcompany.com/40524880/nfl-cheerleader-pay-this-super-bowl-lets-remember-the-ultimate-wage-gap.
Irvine, Amelia, and Eric Gay. “Dear NFL Cheerleaders: Don’t Sue Your Teams over Low Wages.” Washington Examiner, 13 June 2017, www.washingtonexaminer.com/dear-nfl-cheerleaders-dont-sue-your-teams-over-low-wages.
