Varsity Spirit Makes History with First-Ever Pro Cheerleading League

LifeMinute.tv

It is hard to believe, but until now, professional cheerleading wasn't a real path for even the most elite athletes. For decades, they've trained like pros--with no league to chase. That changes today. Varsity Spirit is rewriting the playbook with the launch of the first-ever professional cheerleading league, giving elite athletes paid opportunities to continue their cheer careers beyond high school and college--with national visibility, team contracts, and a new path for top-tier talent. Varsity Spirit has been leading the evolution of cheer for years--from showcasing cheerleading worldwide on Varsity TV and the ESPN network, to launching STUNT and The League by Varsity All Star. A professional cheer league just felt like the natural next step to elevate cheerleading and create new competitive opportunities for athletes. The Pro Cheer League is the first professional cheer league for athletes ages 18 and up. As cheer grows in popularity globally, Varsity Spirit is giving fans something they've never had before--teams in cities they know and love, with athletes they can root for. The launch of the Pro Cheer League is a groundbreaking moment for the sport of cheer and will give elite athletes a chance to continue in the sport after high school and college--and get paid for doing what they love. Varsity Spirit launches with four teams in Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, and San Diego. Teams of 30 will be formed of the most elite-level female and male cheer athletes aged 18+ across the country. The inaugural season will feature five high-energy matches held from January to April, all leading to a championship event. Each match has three periods, kind of like quarters in other sports, and each one is designed to show off different cheer elements: stunts, tumbling, pyramids--you name it. Matches will rotate city to city, and locations will be shared with the full season schedule. Tryouts will take place in early September, and they'll share full rosters in early October as part of the lead up to the first season. Pre-season training for teams will begin in October/ November. Visit procheerleague.com for more info and to join the mailing list and follow @ProCheerLeague on Instagram for the latest updates.

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Maddie Gardner with the Pro Cheerleague presented by Varsity Spirit.

00:08And I'm Bill Seeley, the president of Varsity Spirit.

00:10We're thrilled to be introducing the first ever professional cheerleague to the world today.

00:16Exciting news and the logical next step for cheerleading.

00:20You know, from where we started in the early 70s, introducing the partner stunts, the pyramids, the basket tosses,

00:27to introducing cheerleading to television on ESPN in the early 80s, to the Olympic movement,

00:33on to stunt, which is now the fastest growing female sport in the country.

00:37The Pro Cheerleague is the logical next step.

00:40And we're excited to offer this to all the elite athletes out there in America.

00:44Pro cheer is going to be like nothing you've ever seen before,

00:47taking the best of the best of cheerleading in all different disciplines and the most elite athletes.

00:52So we are launching four teams for this inaugural season and they will be in Miami, Atlanta, Dallas and San Diego.

00:59And we'll have five events throughout the country starting in January of 2026.

01:04We're starting the season off in Indianapolis.

01:06Then we'll head to Atlanta, Houston, Anaheim and wrap up the season in Nashville, Tennessee at the end of March.

01:13This will be an unreal experience for both athletes and fans in the crowd and watching at home.

01:19We're going to have three rounds of competition.

01:22The four teams will go head to head in the first two rounds.

01:24Think high flying stunts, basket tosses, incredible tumbling pass, spins, flips.

01:29I mean, you name it, they're going to do it there.

01:31A lot of excitement.

01:32A lot of excitement.

01:33And then we'll wrap up the third round with more of a traditional routine like you've probably seen on ESPN.

01:39It'll be two and a half to three minutes.

01:41You'll see some creative choreography and, of course, those elite skills.

01:44We'd love to tell you more.

01:45We will be making more announcements in the coming weeks.

01:48So make sure you're tuned in to ProCheerLeague.com and, of course, on social media at ProCheerLeague.

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