OT America’s Sweethearts

[Sterling von Shimmer]

Netflix has seemed to go all in on the cheerleading front with the America’s Sweethearts doc and I’m excited.



Hopefully after this they’ll get paid a liveable wage. It’s insulting that the program demands so much of their time, energy, and money and gives them minimum wage in return. Because “opportunities” or whatever.

I think the Cowboys franchise thought this would be a good piece of fluff for people to enjoy. Like in the “oh look how hard these girls work aren’t they adorable” kind of way. “Look how much they’re willing to do because they love the Cowboys so much.” But instead they only managed to piss people off.

 

[morganontheweekends]

I'm very excited to watch this! I loooooooved DCC: Making the Team and I was so upset when CMT cancelled it. The style looks quite different, less "reality TV". The last few seasons of MTT almost seemed scripted imo with the super dramatic cuts and random country singer guest stars. I've been waiting until my day off (this Saturday!!) to watch it so I can binge it in one day. Apparently, the show goes all the way until the end of the season. MTT usually ended with the preseason. There was one season that went into regular season and showed the behind the scenes of their Thanksgiving halftime practice, that was always one of my favorite seasons. Also, a handful of SOT and CA alumni have been on MTT, it was always fun seeing former all-star cheerleaders.

The wage thing was always a hot topic on the primetimer forums. I agree they should get paid more, but I don't have my hopes up. IIRC, there was a girl who sued and got them to increase their pay a few years ago (it was Erica, she was on the team for a few years) but it's still not a livable wage.

 

[WinstonsGirl]

I'm a die hard MTT watcher, so I loved that this came out. But I wasn't as big of a fan. I get that it was following the entire season, but all the episodes seemed kind of disjointed, and there didn't seem to be an 'end goal'. MTT was making the team. Cheer was who will win Daytona, and following athletes on how they got there and pushed through. This one seems to skip around a lot more, and jump from people to people with only some consistent characters. But maybe I wanted more of some people and less of others?

On a side note, I've been a Victoria fan since her second season/comeback (she was way too young and immature her first season) and I almost cried over her in this series. Poor girl really broke my heart with all she has been through and she needs to move on and find her true happy self. She deserves better than how she's been treated for sure

 

[Keep_Believing]

Directed by the same guy who directed the netflix "cheer" series. I enjoyed watching it. I am afraid if I share my feedback I'll give away spoilers. LOL

 

[catlady]

Guilty pleasure was MTT, so I was looking forward to A'sS. I enjoyed seeing the auditions and the elimination process of MTT, but also, could see how it could take a toll on mental health. I truly appreciated seeing sisterhood instead of female drama in A'sS. @WinstonsGirl, I agree, I couldn't help but be sad for Victoria throughout the series, she seemed lost and lonely, and her relationship with her mom, very co-dependent.

The lightbulb...I never really thought much about the business side of NFL cheerleaders, but as soon as they said the DCC Org runs as its own profit center, everything fell into place. The Cowboy Org can "charge" the DCC Org for their facility usage, utility percentage, dollar per sq ft for dressing rooms, office space, sports med, media personel, transportation, etc. Bottom line, things the Cowboy Org would still have to pay for when not in use, they can "charge" the DCC Org for their usage. The DCC Org risk and liability wouldn't fall directly under the NFL team brand, and by calling the DCC's brand embassadors, they don't fall under wage laws. While DCC can make additional money via personal appearances, the DCC Org being its own profit center can also profit or lose (tax write offs) from those appearances, but more importantly from the NFL Team Org perspective, they can charge the DCC Org for any of their staff/transportation being used for those personal appearances (again, they would have to pay them anyhow). If all NFL teams are running their cheerleading orgs as their own profit center, the day they are required to pay them as staff will be the day they will no longer exist. These cheerleaders are not just working like dogs for their measly wage, but they are helping to pay the facility/utility/bus/staff bills for these NFL teams.