Navarro College, the setting for the popular Netflix docuseries Cheerm, which just dropped season two, reportedly earned just $30K a year from the streaming giant, Sportico reported on Wednesday - despite the company boasting a $25million profit in 2020.
Along with Navarro, nearby Texas rival school, Trinity Valley Community College, was also paid just the relatively small location fee in order to serve as the other backdrop for the show.
Additionally, the meteoric popularity of the show hasn't translated to on-campus interest with Navarro's director of marketing and public information, Stacie Sipes, telling the outlet that enrollment has actually declined since season one.
Bad deal: Navarro College, the setting for Netflix's Cheer, reportedly earned just $30K a year from the streaming giant, Sportico reported on Wednesday
When Netflix first tapped Navarro to be the subject of their then-untitled cheerleading reality series in 2018, the school agreed to be paid $30K from the production company to film, it has been reported.
The deal, signed between the school and Boardwalk Pictures also 'provided Cheer's producers with an exclusive option to renew for five additional academic years, at the same fee.'
'Everybody thinks we made a million dollars off of the show, and as you can see from the contract, we did not,' Sipes told Sportico.
In 2020, Netflix also got the school to sign away 50% of merchandising revenue. That was the same year the company reported a $25million profit.
Setting the stage: The deal, signed between the school and Boardwalk Pictures also 'provided Cheer's producers with an exclusive option to renew for five additional academic years, at the same fee'
Season one of Cheer also debuted in 2020 and became an instant hit for Netflix, with many of the stars, including coach Monica Aldama turning into over-night celebrities.
The success of the show - which has since been marred by scandal after break-out star Jerry Harris was indicted for child pornography - failed to translate to interest from prospective students.
'We have had declining enrollment,' Sipes said in an interview. 'I could probably name four or five students that we heard came here because they heard about our college [through Cheer].
'As Monica and I have both said previously: We were hoping not to get fired. We just wanted to have a really good show produced about her program; we never really thought about having people flocking to our school.'
'Everybody thinks we made a million dollars off of the show, and as you can see from the contract, we did not,' Sipes told Sportico, adding: 'We have had declining enrollment.'
Cheer landed back on Netflix last week as season two hit the streaming service.
Cheer follows the champion cheerleaders of Texas junior college Navarro as they train for their only competition of the year - the National Cheerleaders Association's Collegiate National Championship, a.k.a. Daytona.
Season one followed the team and coach Monica as they trained for and then won the April 2019 championship.
Season two picks up in early 2020 in the weeks leading up to the 2020 competition, before the first major upheaval of the series arrives - the global pandemic.
