By Flavia Berys | March 2014
[An edited version of this Opinion Editorial was published in the New York Post]
A fifth NFL team is drawn into the fray. Over the last few months, former professional cheerleaders for the Cincinnati Bengals, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have filed lawsuits alleging they were paid below minimum wage while employed as dancers for the sports franchises.
The lawsuits have sparked public outcry and a lot of media attention. Some fans express disbelief or even outrage that the NFL teams pay their dancers so little. Others find the lawsuits frivolous and believe these women should have just quit if they didn’t like the compensation. Yet others vote to nix sideline cheerleaders altogether, which might actually come to pass, seeing that the Buffalo Jills team operations were suspended indefinitely two days after the lawsuit was filed.
Could these lawsuits mean the end of professional cheerleading as we know it? Will there be more NFL teams thrown in the mix? Are lawsuits against NBA teams to follow?
I’m particularly interested in the outcome of all of this. Although my primary career is now in real estate as both an attorney and broker, my passion “hobby” is sports entertainment management. My previous career included two years as an NFL cheerleader followed by directing two professional cheerleading teams and coordinating NFL cheerleaders for Super Bowl related appearances.
Today, I help women achieve their dream of cheering for the pros, both through my bestselling books including Professional Cheerleading Audition Secrets and also at live bootcamps where I help train and “makeover” aspiring professional cheerleaders to help them land a spot on the sidelines. I feel personally responsible for sending countless women into this sport.
Given my background, these lawsuits made me wonder: Am I sending women into roles where they are underpaid and degraded? Taken advantage of and oppressed? Treated with disrespect and condescension? Does management subject them to unwanted sexual advances by fans? Do their handbooks really tell them how to properly wear feminine products and how often to shower? In short, has my book helped women achieve their goal, only for them to discover it was not the promised prize?
I don’t have the answers, because every NFL dance team is different and has its own unique culture and management style. Perhaps all the allegations are true, and we are now discovering the secret lives of professional cheerleaders on select teams—underpaid, mistreated, silenced, and taken for granted. Perhaps.
But I hope—and believe—these lawsuits greatly exaggerate the negative aspects of this sport. I have experienced firsthand how amazing and rewarding it is to cheer for the pros. Even though I value my time and now have a billing rate of hundreds of dollars per hour as an attorney, I never felt underpaid during my time as a professional cheerleader.
It seemed odd to me that people are so surprised that professional cheerleaders are paid so little. In one of my books, Professional Cheerleading Audition Secrets, I spend an entire section discussing the numerous benefits involved, and not once do I mention doing it for the money. That’s because the money’s just not there.
I have read commentary that criticizes the teams for paying the cheerleaders so much less than the players, but that comparison makes no sense. Comparing the players to the cheerleaders is comparing apples to oranges. For the players, their commitment to the team is full time and they cannot have other employment. They are also subjecting themselves to potential serious head injuries, and are celebrities as individuals, by name, not just by team affiliation. The competition for the best talent between teams is really intense. Each team wants to win and must pay top dollar to recruit the best talent.
On the other hand, while professional cheerleaders are high caliber dancers and spokespeople, there are many women who meet the minimum talent threshold. Cheerleaders need to be great dancers, but not necessarily the best dancers in the league when compared to the other teams—it is not an adversarial competition between teams like it is for the players.
But there’s an even simpler reason why this job has never been a high-paying position: Supply and demand.
After all, it’s a highly-coveted, glamorous, and exciting role. Hundreds of women show up at auditions to fill a few dozen openings. The teams could probably fill their sidelines with qualified dancers even if the positions were unpaid. In fact, the first professional league cheerleaders in the 1970’s were unpaid volunteers from local college cheer squads who showed up for fun.
Because of the supply and demand dynamic, the sports franchises have no incentive to pay more than minimum wage, much less make it a high-paying position. Tens of thousands of women have shown up over the decades to audition for the privilege to wear their favorite pro sports team colors and wave a pair of glitzy pom-poms, despite the low pay.
And the cheerleaders, until now, didn’t seem to object. Why? Most likely because cheerleading is traditionally a low-paying job, when it is paid at all. Most cheerleaders and dancers spend their years prior to the pros paying quite a bit of money to participate in cheerleading.
Ask any parent of a high school cheerleader whether this sport is expensive to participate in, and most will roll their eyes and quote you the thousands of dollars spent for one season’s uniform, pom-pom, and competition fee expenses. They might add the thousands of dollars spent on dance lessons and dance camps. So being paid even a nominal amount in the pros must feel like a big change from shelling out umpteen dollars per season for previous cheer squad involvement.
Even university cheerleaders are unpaid volunteers, and they are the ones that typically perform the higher-risk cheerleading moves like building pyramids and tossing teammates high in the air.
Yet at any level—elementary, high school, and university—there is never a shortage of candidates for these coveted spots. Can that mean that cheerleading might compensate its participants with something other than money?
I think yes. I believe that the perks and life experience add up to make this a dream job, regardless of hourly wage, and that the cheerleaders are well compensated by something other than hard cash, as I explain below.
And that’s why I have no problem with the cheerleaders making a nominal amount per season in terms of dollars as long as minimum wage thresholds are met. While I would love to see cheerleaders’ pay increased far above minimum wage knowing how hard they work, I just don’t see the NFL teams choosing to turn this sport into a full-time or highly paid profession. There’s no incentive for them to do that.
At the end of the day, this is a seasonal part-time job. Many people spend more time on their favorite hobby than a cheerleader will spend on her team-related duties. This is not a job one does to financially support herself or her family. It was not designed to be a sole source of income—the hours are just not there. Even at three times the minimum wage, the income would be under $5,000 per year to cheer for most NFL teams. That’s why pro cheerleaders are supposed to have full time jobs, be full time students, or be stay-at-home mothers who participate in pro cheer only as a part-time endeavor.
However, I must interject for a moment to make something clear: As an attorney, I unequivocally agree that the teams need to pay their employees a legal wage. They need to comply with the letter and spirit of all labor laws. These recent lawsuits will bring to light whether violations have occurred and will hopefully cause all teams in the pro leagues to reevaluate their compensation policies to make sure they meet wage minimums, properly categorize employees as employees versus independent contractors, and protect their cheerleaders from harassment and hostile work environments.
If there have been violations in any of these areas, the teams need to make up for any prior shortages and will need to strictly comply with labor laws in the future. Workers compensation, tax issues, and harassment prevention will improve the landscape for these women. But as far as the direct financial benefit for the cheerleaders, we are talking about a $3 or $5 per hour deficit to be corrected. An extra $5 per hour might add $1,000 or $2,000 thousand dollars to each cheerleader’s total pay for an entire season, which might in some cases double their cheer-related wages that year. Hardly enough to make much of an economic impact.
But what about the merits of these cases? I feel that some of the allegations in the lawsuits stretch the facts a little, and can even seem petty. For example, one cheerleader included the $80 she spent during the season on mandatory teambuilding gifts for 40 teammates as an unreimbursed work expense —that’s $2 per teammate.
Let’s think about that for a minute. At some point, we all spend some personal funds for coworker gifts, dry cleaning for our work clothes, shampoo and haircuts and all the other everyday expenses of working anywhere.
The fact the plaintiff cheerleaders chose to add in all of these dubious “work-related expenses” and count all hours spent as a team member—such as time spent at charity-related appearances—to arrive at a number of hours worked that that appears to bring their hourly wages below minimum wage makes me curious to see how these cases will play out. The results could have far reaching effects on all employee/employer relationships. Should my employer law firm reimburse me for dry-cleaning my suits? For the holiday gift I gave a coworker?
And if spending $2 for gifts for each of 40 teammates and appearing at a charity event feels like a burden to someone, why would that person even audition for a cheer squad, knowing that cheerleading is a very social sport and that team members participate in charity events? It’s part of cheerleading at every level of the sport.
Which brings me back to the question of why these women participate in this sport if it pays so little and demands so much. After all, professional cheerleaders must have the polish of a television news anchor, the stamina of an aerobics instructor, the perfect dance technique of a Rockette, and the poise of a pageant contestant. They are dancers, true, yet they are also models, spokespeople, ambassadors for their teams, and local celebrities. They have to go through intense training to fill those roles effectively. That’s a lot to ask of someone, especially if you pay her a pittance.
But consider the non-monetary benefits…
The friendships: This sport gives cheerleaders a sense of sisterhood. It’s like joining a college sorority with respect to bonding and socializing opportunities.
The glamour: The cheerleaders are treated as local celebrities, participating in photo shoots, on-camera media opportunities, promotional appearances, high profile events, and autograph signings.
The resume building: The experience of cheering for the pros creates professional contacts to help with subsequent career opportunities, and it makes an instant point of interest in a resume. Many pro cheerleaders parlay their cheerleading skills into more lucrative careers in radio, newscasting, television, and movie roles.
The perks: Cheerleading team sponsors supply free merchandise and services like teeth whitening, cosmetic procedures, tanning, hair products, styling services, attire, gym memberships, and more. There are often all-expense-paid travel opportunities, too.
The sports: Cheerleaders get to witness some of society’s greatest athletes score touchdowns or points from a few feet away. There are no better seats than standing a few yards from the action.
The excitement: The energy that pours onto the field from the tens of thousands of fans is palpable. I’ve been skydiving, I’ve played horse polo, I ride a motorcycle, and I’ve even piloted a helicopter. But cheerleading for the NFL tops that list when it comes to the adrenaline rush. It’s one of the best aspects of the job.
In short, the perks are truly incredible. That’s why you have veteran returning cheerleaders reaudition year after year… if conditions were actually deplorable, I doubt you would see so many cheerleaders reaudition after their first season.
During my own years on an NFL dance team, I was able to travel to Australia for an American Bowl game and Canada for Super Bowl promotions, all expenses paid. I was booked to appear in a Sony video game and several television appearances for commercials, MTV, and more. I received free makeup, hair products, nail services, haircuts, and workout attire. I no longer had to pay for dance classes since I had rehearsals to keep me in dancing shape, and I got game tickets and parking passes at no cost. My swimsuit calendar photos are an amazing keepsake I will show my great grandkids one day. Most importantly, I made friends on the team that are still dear to me over a decade later.
So even though I made under $100 per game, I felt richly compensated. The experience would not have been better if I had been paid a few dollars more per hour. The privilege of being a member of that elite sisterhood is priceless, and any attempt to measure it in terms of cash dollars begs the question: Aren’t there things we do in life for more than just the money? I say yes.
And Trish Hall, the Op–Ed and Sunday Review editor for the New York Times, agrees with me in her article describing why people should write Op–Ed pieces: “People certainly don’t write for us for the money; the payment, frankly, is peanuts. They write for the influence, for the chance to reach an audience, to say something that’s been bothering them, driving them crazy, something that no one else seems to be saying.”
In my mind, professional cheerleading joins the ranks of other jobs that people do for something other than cash. It’s a part-time endeavor that you do for the love of the sport and your community, not the paycheck. I believe professional cheerleaders are like volunteer firefighters, school teachers, social workers, volunteers for charitable organizations, girl scouts selling cookies, and many others who may be underpaid in terms of dollars, yet never feel their work makes them poor in the ways that really count.
I should know—this year I took on the lowest paying but most rewarding job there is: I became a first-time mom!
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[Flavia Berys is a former NFL cheerleader and is currently an author and real estate attorney. She can be contacted via www.berys.com]
This essay is Copyright © 2014 Flavia Berys. All rights reserved. Please contact Flavia Berys for permission if you wish to publish this essay.
