Not all teams have them (Greenbay, and Pittsburgh don’t, maybe others), but thanks to merch sales (re calendars) cheerleaders add about $2 million to the bottom line. So while you can make a case they’re needless they sure aren’t an expense.
Thanks for the follow up....I would say that they may contribute to the bottom line for the team owners or the NFL and can be justified on that basis (so does beer sales :-), but I still think that they add little to the game itself.