Photo © Aija Lehtonen | Dreamstime.com
Remember the Pro Cheer League? It’s getting closer to reality.
In case you needed a refresher course, the Pro Cheer League is a travel circuit with five events in Indianapolis, Houston, Atlanta, Anaheim and Nashville. And just as it sounds, it will be a traveling competitive league solely dedicated to cheer.
“Cheerleading’s popularity has exploded over the last decade and has become part of the Olympic movement in recent years,” said Bill Seely, president of Varsity Spirit. “The Pro Cheer League represents a bold step forward, not just for the athletes, but for the future of our sport.”
The website for the Pro Cheer League states that for the inaugural season, there will be co-ed teams in all four cities, with each team consisting of 30 top-tier athletes competing as part of the Atlanta Air, Dallas Drive, Golden State Grit and Miami Metal.
Tryouts have been held and the organization has been teasing video clips of athletes auditioning, judges critiquing and cheerleaders discussing why they want to be a part of the process. Teams have been named. Oh, and the merch machine is already up and running.
According to Varsity Spirit, the season will run from January through the end of March 2026 and will feature five matches.
The competition format takes place over three rounds, with rounds one and two featuring cheerleading skills, including stunts, basket tosses and tumbling in head-to-head, bracket-style rounds. The final round will feature a creative routine set to music, showcasing choreography, creativity, athleticism and showmanship.
If that sounds a little familiar, that might be because it is; two cheer-based women’s sports, Acrobatics & Tumbling and STUNT (which were recently recommend as the newest NCAA national championships) use a similar competition format.
The purpose of the league, say organizers, is to provide a platform for athletes to continue their careers beyond high school and college, competing at the highest level with advanced training, national exposure and competitive compensation.
NIL is also in play, with the site noting, “Athletes may pursue individual sponsorships as long as they are approved by the Pro Cheer League and align with the league’s guidelines. The league and its teams may also pursue brand partnerships in the future.”
Applications opened on July 24, giving athletes 18 and older the chance to secure a spot in the tryouts. Once teams are officially named, preseason training is expected to begin in November.
Varsity initially stated that it had plans to expand the league in the coming years, something that may include adding more teams and possibly even multiple teams in the same city if demand is high enough.
Something else to consider: If hosting areas tie in the Pro Cheer League's competitions with other events, including clinics, showcases and tournaments, it could allow cities to boost their cheer hosting cred even further.
Additionally, it would serve to show off the facilities where events are hosted – and to build economic impact.
Now that’s worth cheering for.
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