Top Stories; Do the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make enough? Squad added $50M in brand value but earns $75 an hour: report
Top Stories — Sunday, September 7, 2025
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- Do the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make enough? Squad added $50M in brand value but earns $75 an hour: report — Fox Business
- As Syria Tries to Move Away From Dictatorship, Signs of Authoritarianism Linger — nyt News
- South Korea reaches deal with US to release workers detained after immigration raid — Fox News
Do the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make enough? Squad added $50M in brand value but earns $75 an hour: report
Source: Fox Business • Published: 9/7/2025, 7:30:02 PM
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders recently received a 400% raise to $75 an hour for the 2025 season, marking a victory that also raises questions over whether the iconic squad's new compensation now reflects their true value.
The raise was secured by the end of season two of Netflix's "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders," which premiered in June and highlighted the challenges squad members face. Four-year veteran Megan McElaney revealed on the show the squad members were getting a significant pay raise.
"Our efforts were heard, and they wanted to give us a raise," McElaney said in episode 7. "And we ended up getting a 400% increase, which is, like, life-changing."
The pay increase has also raised questions about how much of the Dallas Cowboys' $12.8 billion valuation is tied to their cheer squad, The Hollywood Reporter reported, citing Sportico.
Kelee, Karley, Megan, Tori, Kelcey, Chandi, Armani, and Sophy of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform during Netflix Summer Break on May 30, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Netflix / Getty Images)
Since the Netflix show's debut in 2024, the famous squad of cheerleaders has generated approximately $50.2 million in equivalent brand value for the Dallas Cowboys, according to The Hollywood Reporter, citing Apex Marketing Group President Eric Smallwood.
That figure — which does not include merchandise sales or the squad's role in broadening the Cowboys' audience — reflects high-profile promotional appearances, exposure from the show and the media and social media attention they attract. Smallwood calculated that number by estimating the amount it would cost the football team to purchase that level of exposure outright, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are pictured with Charlotte Jones, Jerry Jones, Ted Sarandos, and Bela Bajaria at the premiere of Netflix's "America's Team: The Gambler And His Cowboys" at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on August 11, 2025, (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images / Getty Images)
During one episode of the show's second season, tensions came to a head when the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders debated walking out of one of their practices amid frustration over their latest contract. At the time, five-year veteran Jada Mclean, who is now retired, earned $15 an hour without health insurance. In addition to her role as a cheerleader, she worked as an assistant in a dermatologist's office, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
"We do hold value, and what are we willing to do to show them that we know our value?" Mclean asked the squad.
While Mclean was earning just $15 an hour that year, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott made $60 million.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders during "Audience Suggestion Box" on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images / Getty Images)
On Aug. 19, the Dallas Cowboys and its owner, Jerry Jones, became the focus of another Netflix series, "America's Team, the Gambler and His Cowboys."
Jones, who purchased the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, told 'Fox & Friends' on Aug. 21 that sports were not financially viable on their own at the time. He also admitted he did not have enough money to buy the team in full but still was able to secure ownership.
"I wanted my life's dream," Jones said. "The minute I got there though, I knew that there had to be other ways to involve our fans."
The Dallas Cowboys did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
Read the full story at Fox Business.
As Syria Tries to Move Away From Dictatorship, Signs of Authoritarianism Linger
Source: nyt News • Published: 9/7/2025, 7:17:01 PM
Syria's new leaders have taken steps to steer the country away from dictatorship, with plans to overhaul the prison and security systems that were central to the rule by fear under the old Assad regime.
But their handling of waves of sectarian violence, their lack of inclusivity and the concentration of power in the hands of a few have raised concerns that their evolving style of governance remains rooted in authoritarianism.
For more than five decades under the Assad family, Syria was a security state ruled by terror, where the prison system stood as a grim instrument and symbol of intimidation. Torture and executions were rife in prisons that were used to detain and disappear tens of thousands of people, and keep the population under oppressive control.
In May, the Interior Ministry announced that it would overhaul the security and prison systems, with the goal of upholding human rights and preserving the dignity of inmates. This could entail building entirely new prisons or renovating existing ones to meet humane standards, the ministry said.
The "tyranny of security forces" is over, Nour al-Din al-Baba, an Interior Ministry spokesman, told The New York Times.
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Read the full story at nyt News.
South Korea reaches deal with US to release workers detained after immigration raid
Source: Fox News • Published: 9/7/2025, 7:12:29 PM
The South Korean government has reached a deal with the U.S. to secure the release of hundreds of migrant workers detained at a Hyundai automobile factory in Georgia.
Homeland Security Investigations said 475 people who were in the country illegally, primarily from South Korea, were arrested as part of the operation at the under-construction battery plant. Hyundai owns the plant, but claimed none of the workers were directly employed by the company.
President Lee Jae Myung's office says the country will send a charter plane to bring the workers back to South Korea in the coming days.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement last week to express "concern and regret" at the raid.
This image from video provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees waiting to have their legs shackled at the Hyundai Motor Group's electric vehicle plant, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga. (Corey Bullard/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)
HSI Georgia chief Steven Schrank said some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.
HSI said some of the workers arrested were employed by subcontractors on the construction site, which has since been paused. Fox News Digital reported that ICE and other law enforcement agencies were part of the operation.
A view of the Hyundai Motor Group facility in Georgia, part of a multibillion-dollar EV and battery project (The Associated Press)
"As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company," Hyundai told Fox News Digital in a statement. "We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate."
Workplace raids have become an increasingly common operation for immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump's administration.
Federal agents detain workers during an immigration raid at the Hyundai battery plant construction site in Ellabell, Georgia. (ATF)
Last month, federal authorities butted heads with some Democratic officials in California at a cannabis farm, which resulted in the discovery of children working at the plant.
Fox News' Cameron Arcand and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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