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

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/09/19/cheerleaders-minimum-wage/

Friday, September 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



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

FULL story at link.

[customerserviceguy]

1. I read the article

and I must have missed the math that calculated the million dollars that the cheerleaders are supposed to be generating. I'm personally hard pressed to remember the presence or absence of cheerleaders making a difference about how much I wanted to spend for a game ticket on the few occasions I've gone to an NFL game.

Don't get me wrong, I want them to be paid something for what they do, but my guess is that the biggest reason they get into this is not for direct financial remuneration from the NFL. I would suppose some would think that it was the best way to meet a well-paid football player, but I suspect the majority of them want it on their resume as they pursue possible entertainment careers in acting or modeling. In any case, no one's forcing them into this occupation, and I'd guess there are plenty of women standing in line to do it for the admittedly meager pay.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Consider sales of cheerleader posters and calendars ... not small change.

Do they get a "fair" cut from those sales ? I'd be surprised.

[customerserviceguy]

13. And they should, indeed

as players get a cut of NFL memorabilia with their names and/or likenesses. But someone buying Tom Brady jersey or a poster with Richard Sherman's picture is specifically looking for something with that player, and I doubt the average cheerleader-poster-buying NFL fan either knows or cares about the names of the women portrayed thereon.

Those things are bought as part of the objectification of the women, and it's something that the cheerleaders sign up for when they take those jobs.

[Sheldon Cooper]

21. Utter dreck.

[Baclava]

3. If they don't want the job, there are 38,000 other women each wanting to take their place

I think that's how the story goes

[Orsino]

17. Our economy writ small. n/t

[Spazito]

4. I am glad they are pursuing suits against the NFL...

they are showcased by the NFL but receive little in remuneration. They deserve fair compensation and the NFL can well afford to pay it.

[Logical]

5. It's terrible they forced her to do this job. The bastards! Nt

[KittyWampus]

7. So you don't support workers making fair wages? Your solution to workers in any industry>

find another job?

[Psephos]

8. non sequitur

No one forces the cheerleaders to take the job. They are free to not do it if they don't believe it's worth their time. And these are clearly women with other options.

Ten thousand other women would take any open cheer-leading job instantly on the current terms. Obviously, there is a perception here of value received for value offered. Or to put it in your terms, these workers obviously believe they make a fair "wage" for what they contribute. That the wage is not received primarily in dollars does not mean it's not being received.

[Nye Bevan]

10. So employers should be exempt from paying the minimum wage, provided that

(1) the employees are not being forced to take the job, and (2) lots of other people want the job? Your proposed exemption would certainly have broader applicability beyond the world of cheerleading.

[theHandpuppet]

14. Maybe football players should make minimum wage

And if they don't like it, they can find another job. After all, there are thousands of guys out there who would take their places for a lot less.

Oops... I guess that argument only works when its women we're talking about.

[The2ndWheel]

18. Nobody is going to games to watch the cheerleaders

If they disappeared today, nobody would notice.

People pay all that money for tickets to watch the players, and that's why players make a ton of money.

[Logical]

15. When I take a job knowing the pay and expectations up front....

I do not support me being unhappy later.

[gyroscope]

6. They're just a bunch of dumb blondes and broads who dont know their rights

and are easily exploited and taken advantage by certain male-dominated industries. /sarcasm

I'm surprised it has taken this long for someone to file a lawsuit.
Sounds like a lot of work they are doing for little or nothing.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

9. Cheerleaders should make minimum wage, but not necessarily more.

No job should be paid less than minimum wage, and the minimum wage should probably be raised significantly.

But I see no reason why cheerleading is a job that should be paid more than that if market forces do not demand it.

[LiberalElite]

11. The NFL is a non-profit,

so of course they get non-profit wages.

[joeglow3]

25. They are employed by the teams, who do pay taxes

[FreeJoe]

12. It has been a few decades since I knew an NFL cheerleader...

...but when I did know one, she made her money by trading off of that status. She got appearance fees for showing up at parties, conferences, and such. While she wasn't raking in millions, she did reasonable well trading off of the "celebrity" of being a cheerleader.

Things may have changed. My point is that her compensation from the team was in the form of a marketable credential rather than direct pay itself.

[Orsino]

16. Consider the "but the exposure is great" joke made.

I wonder whether the current scrutiny on the NFL could be made to benefit these female employees?

[Lancero]

19. I'm kinda surprised at how many here are against women being paid a minimum wage...

And the defense they use to justify their not being paid as such...

I can only imagine their reactions if *GASP* someone suggested that these women deserved *GASP* equal pay.

*faints*

[Cal Carpenter]

20. This^^^ So much anti-worker bullshit on this thread

And I'll get posts hidden if I reply upthread so I'll just agree with you here and hope that people with more patience and tact tell the people who are coming across as sexist anti-workers what is wrong with their arguments.

[LittleBlue]

22. Everyone should support workers' rights

The NFL has an obligation to pay cheerleaders not just minimum wage, but a fair living wage. They are in a lucrative business. This isn't an industry that is just barely getting by.

[dilby]

24. The team has an obligation to pay the cheerleaders, they are employed by the team not the NFL.

This is a problem for certain NFL teams not all of them.

[Lancero]

27. The NFL sets guidelines that member teams have to follow though...

So if they cared about womens equality, they could require them to be paid minimum wage.

Ideally they would be paid a living wage, but with how rampant misogyny is in the NFL well... Not much hope for that happening in this decade.

[dilby]

23. Not even sure why some teams still have these girls.

They are not needed and there are a lot of teams that don't have them. Plus they are only at home games so they work for only half the season. Granted they deserve to be paid minimum wage but in this day and age they serve no purpose.

[FarPoint]

26. These cheerleaders lack insight into their own self empowerment option.

The standard male chauvinistic message has been imbedded into their development. Maybe they will soon become enlighten? The GOP good old boys will do everything to block growth in feminism.