If money didn’t matter, I’d love to be a professional cheerleader.
Obviously, the women – and a few men – on the teams are talented beyond belief, and I’d have had to be training in dance, acrobatics and cheerleading for probably a decade to even be considered for a tryout.
Yet, the pay doesn’t reflect that.
As famously exposed on the TV show “America’s Sweetheart: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders,” the dancers on the most famous NFL cheerleading teams often have second jobs. Their careers range from teaching and pediatric nursing to serving as law firm directors. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, while recently having won a major pay increase reportedly as high as 400%, likely doesn’t begin to touch the minimum NFL player salary, even for benchwarmers, which was $840,000 during the 2025 season.
This isn’t a career choice issue; collegiate cheer is no different.
Whenever I go to a college football game, naturally, as a high school cheerleader, I’m biased in what I set my sights on. Football’s fine to watch, but it seems so slow-paced to me compared to the fluid, athletic movements on the sideline. I find myself admiring the elegant lines the cheerleaders create with their kicks, jumps and stunts. The shimmer of the pom-poms may blend in with fanfare for some, but for me, it’s all I can see.
Ava Brent, 18, an All-Star cheerleader for Kentucky Pride All-Star cheerleading and a senior at Ballard High School, agrees with my sentiment.
“Whenever I go to the UK [University of Kentucky] football games, I’m honestly shocked by the fact that those girls aren’t on an NCAA scholarship,” Brent said. “Kentucky’s cheer program has won back-to-back national titles for however long cheer comps have been around for, but it’s the sorry football team that gets all the money?”
Everyone in every college football stadium brings in some percentage of people to watch them. But the only athletes on NCAA scholarships are the football players. While football players perform for a few hours, the cheerleaders perform throughout the entire game, lead the crowd, do halftime shows, and attend meet-and-greets — all with smiles on their faces. They are expected to represent the school beautifully, yet the scholarship recognition is slim to none.
Like many other college sports, cheerleading is year-round.
T’Laya Bates, 20, is a junior at the University of Louisville and an athlete on the cheerleading squad. Her workout schedule is rigorous, no matter the season.
In the summer, it’s all about conditioning.
“In summer, we have weekly workouts, miles, and challenges we have to complete. We also have two weeks designated in the summer where we come to Louisville and have two-a-days,” Bates said.
Then, once the first semester comes around, practices typically occur three days per week, not including the football, volleyball and women’s basketball games that the cheerleaders are expected to attend. During the first semester, the squad is expected to come to one game per week, but moving later into the semester, it’s around two to three times per week. The University of Louisville not only cheers for the football, volleyball and basketball teams but also competes at “Daytona” in the spring.
Daytona is cheerleader slang for the National Cheerleaders Association and National Dance Alliance College Nationals.
During the first semester, the team typically practices three days a week, excluding the games they cheer at.
“A lot of the girls do personal workouts outside of cheer, which range from one-hour workouts one to two times a week,” Bates said.
Their mandated squad practices typically last between two and a half to three hours. On top of that, stunt groups often arrive an hour early to “rep out” stunts twice a week during the second semester. As basketball season wraps up, practices increase even more, with the team practicing every night leading up to their national competition.
None of this work has been wasted; the University of Louisville’s cheerleading program could be described as a dynasty, with its All-Girl team holding 18 NCA National Championships and its small co-ed team holding 12 titles.
Clearly, a significant amount of time that could otherwise be dedicated to schoolwork or personal life is poured into the team. Still, every member participates out of genuine love for the sports, especially since not all athletes receive equal scholarships, and none are funded by the NCAA.
I cannot fully blame the athletics programs for this inequity, because ultimately, the NCAA does not officially recognize cheerleading as a sport. The reasoning is complicated — cheerleading is co-ed, original scholarship regulations didn’t include it and head-to-head competitions are rare. All these factors, among others, make it not consider cheerleading a varsity NCAA sport.
You might think Title IX, which promotes gender equality in education and athletics, would protect cheerleading, given that it’s largely female-dominated. But Title IX measures equality in men’s and women’s sports. Since cheerleading is co-ed and often viewed as a sideline activity rather than a competitive sport, it falls into a grey area and is excluded from NCAA discussions entirely.
This is not to disregard the validity of cheerleading as a sport. I’m a cheerleader myself, and although nowhere near the level of a collegiate, let alone professional, cheerleader, I can attest to the effort it takes to appear polished and effortless.
That’s part of the beauty of the sport.
There is no room for cockiness in collegiate cheerleading. Every day, thousands of collegiate cheerleaders are showing up for their school, their cheer team, and the sports they are cheering on, with little to no monetary rewards unless they are part of a select few with brand deals or name, image, and likeness (NIL) money. And for clarification, some colleges may offer small awards or institutional support to cheerleaders, but these are generally far less structured or substantial than athletic scholarships for NCAA-recognized sports.
Although I cannot argue that professional cheerleading should be paid more in the context of franchise economics, I can argue that the NCAA should provide better opportunities for collegiate cheerleaders. Scholarships, media coverage and official recognition would not only validate their hard work but also reflect the athletic skill, commitment and passion that cheerleaders bring to every game and competition.
