The Super Bowl is less than a week away. While you’re watching spare a thought for the poor cheerleaders writes Olga Khazan:

• Cheerleaders for professional American sports team have to train ten months a year and attend countless rehearsals.
• They often won’t be paid for this and they ultimately make about $5 an hour.
• Some teams require them to pay for their own hair, makeup, travel and other business expenses.
• Another team requires that the entire squad re-audition ever year meaning that veterans are in constant danger of being excluded from the team.
• However cheerleaders are often able to use the job as a launching pad to lucrative show-business and modeling engagements.

Read more about the team that pays for its cheerleaders with game and parking passes, the tours that cheerleaders may have to go on, and the penalties for bringing the wrong pom-poms over here.

Source: The Atlantic