The Oakland Raiders cheerleaders won a lawsuit against the team and may set a new precedent for pom-pom waivers across the league. The $1.25 million settlement is to be distributed to approximately 100 ladies who have worked as Raiderettes.

The suit alleged the Raiders failed to pay minimum wage, pay overtime or reimburse their cheerleaders for squad related expenses from the 2010-14 seasons.

Bottom line: All Raiderettes who performed for more than one season is expected to receive more than $20,000 from the settlement. To sum it up, according to their attorneys the girls are getting back pay “equivalent to minimum wage for all hours worked, all overtime pay and reimbursed for all out of pocket expenses”.

In a related story, back in July, the Raiders organization offered their cheerleading group a deal that nearly tripled their pay but before you jump up and start waving your pom-poms know this…that deal raised their pay to minimum wage of $9 per hour.

Nonetheless, both of these are wins.

With the Raiders planning their move to Las Vegas where a $1.9 billion stadium will house them, minimum wage for cheerleaders sure sounds like an underpayment. That stadium cost is like two Jerry’s houses and who would’ve thought Jerry’s house in Dallas wouldn’t be the biggest on the block?

The settlement and the increased pay moving forward is a win for the Raiders too because it removes future allegations of the team violating California labor laws that included failing to pay minimum wage, not reimbursing mandatory business expenses and dispersing paychecks once per year.

Raiderettes work hours are normally 350 hours per season so when you calculate the “raise” increases their pay from about $1,250 to approximately $3,200. Add in overtime and other appearances and well, it’s better than it was.

There are other suits against the NFL regarding cheerleading. There are class action and individual happening as we write this. Most of those suits are hitting on pay structure and unfair wages.

BTW, in case you’re wondering why mascot are not removing their heads, slamming them down in the end zone and fighting for better pay, they may not need to. According to sources, mascots earn up to $60,000 per year with benefits thrown in.