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Cheerleaders generate over $1 million per season per NFL team, yet they don't even make minimum wage

Lacy T was the first professional cheerleader to launch legal action against her NFL team, the Oakland Raiders earlier this year. Her victory means her fellow Raiderettes now earn California's minimum wage. However, it's still thousands of dollars less than what an NFL mascot earns, or the concession stand workers at the stadiums.....
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The Current25:01Cheerleaders generate over $1 million per season per NFL team, but don't even make minimum wage - Sept 19, 2014
Lacy T was the first professional cheerleader to launch legal action against her NFL team, the Oakland Raiders earlier this year. Her victory means her fellow Raiderettes now earn California's minimum wage. However, it's still thousands of dollars less than what an NFL mascot earns, or the concession stand workers at the stadiums..

While NFL is expected to rake in more than $9 billion this year, some of the league's biggest boosters are unenthusiastic about wages and working conditions.

I was working three times a week with practises, I was going to events paying so much money out of pocket, and at that moment I realised this is a lot different to the NBA. I didn't have any out of pocket expenses when I danced for the Golden State Warriors, and I was paid an hourly wage for all hours worked - it didn't matter if it was practises or photo shoots, and I received a pay cheque every two weeks. Lacey T on CNN earlier this year. She was the first professional cheerleader to file a lawsuit against her NFL team, the Oakland Raiders, for poor working conditions

Bengals-Cheerleader-500.jpg

Cheerleader Alexa Brenneman has also filed a lawsuit against the Cincinnati Bengals (Facebook)


Since Lacey T filed her lawsuit, cheerleaders from the New York Jets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals have filed suits against their NFL teams. The Raiders suit has now been settled, but the others are still pending.

Diane Todd has become known as the Cheerleader for Cheerleaders after she started a petition in 2012 demanding better pay from the NFL for cheerleaders. It has since received more than 136,000 signatures.

Big league cheerleaders are mostly known for showing lots of enthusiasm and lots of skin. But there's another world of cheerleading ... in which the cheerleaders themselves are the athletes and competitors.

Marcy Kuzemchak is the former coach of the McMaster University Cheer team. She's also a member of the Cheer Canada rules advisory committee. And she runs Competitive Cheer, an event company that runs cheerleading competitions across Canada.

Our next two guests have worked together on research looking into college cheerleading and questions of gender and sport.

Laura Grindstaff is a professor of sociology at University of California, Davis.

Emily West is a professor of communication who teaches at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.


What are our thoughts on this story? What do you think of the lawsuits cheerleaders are filing against NFL teams?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Gord Westmacott, Naheed Mustafa and Sarah Grant.

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