Really ???

Assuming that by "millions", you mean 2 million plus, that would make over 62500 tryout hopefuls in each of the 32 NFL team training camps. Shoot, I don't think there are even 60,000 college football players. At that maybe half are starters or "draft eligible." While I don't doubt there are millions of men who would "like" to be a NFL football player, only a fraction of that number have the credentials to be taken seriously by a NFL team front office.
Although the tryout:selected ratio may be identical for the players, and cheerleaders, the number crunching exercises end there. Although they play a part in the overall scheme of things, they are not absolutely essential to an NFL team. A cheerleading squad could have 1 or 2 absentees with very few people noticing the difference. But have a football team put 10 players on field instead of 11- millions of viewers would know. Also, cheerleaders are pretty much a homogenized product across the board. Lose one cheerleader to injury, another one could fill the void without much difference. Losing a key player can often make a big difference between a winning and a losing season.
I'm not saying that low NFL cheerleader pay is "right" or "OK." I looked over 2 posts, one citing a 1976 pay of $50/week, another citing a (presumably) recent pay of $11K/yr. That translates into a 2014 increase of 1.8% over 1976 levels, adjusted for inflation. NFL revenue increase since 1976 adjusted for inflation far exceeds the measly 1.8% figure. One could rightly say that NFL cheerleaders deserve a fair share of that increase. A common ad in those inflight magazines comes to mind: "You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate for." Given the realities of the business coupled with the supply/demand curve, a cheerleaders union faces a steep uphill battle.
Bookmarks