*By Jacqueline Corba*
The world's top equestrians gathered in New York over the weekend for the inaugural Riders Masters Cup, a team competition featuring five riders representing the United States and five riders from Europe.
"To do it here was a dream come true," said Georgina Bloomberg, a professional equestrian on Team USA. "Anytime you can do a competition in our home city ー it's really amazing for us." Bloomberg, 35, was born in New York and is the younger daughter of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The hometown advantage didn't ultimately help the Americans, who lost 8-7. Unlike other events in the three-city, international Longines Masters series, the Rider Cup is a team competition . Bloomberg said the final result was disappointing, but she said the national team format of the competition helps make equestrian more accessible to spectators, and can help grow the sport's appeal.
"You see great access to riders there," said Bloomberg. "You won't see better competition than the masters."
The four-day Longines Masters of New York event took place at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, about 30 miles from Manhattan.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/georgina-bloomberg-on-equestrian-as-a-spectator-sport).
FightCamp is a new fitness company that streams boxing classes from top instructors direct to consumers. The classes can be tailored to the needs of boxers at all levels of expertise ー from newbies to punching pros said co-founder Tommy Duquette.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
The New York Knicks and its jersey sponsor, the website-building platform Squarespace, are doling out assists to four local businesses as part of the second annual "Make It Awards." "Partnering with Squarespace to help those entrepreneurs get their businesses to the next level was something we were very interested in doing and it's been a major hit," said MSG Sports' senior vice president of business operations, Kristin Bernert, in an interview on Cheddar.
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The NBA is transparent about its approval of legalized, regulated sports betting ー but the league is also clearly communicating that it wants a fair share of the money wagered on its games. "It's our view that if state governments are going to be authorizing private entities, in most cases casinos, to generate significant revenue ー billions of dollars of revenue ー off of the NBA competitions, that the NBA participate in some way," said the NBA's head of fantasy and gaming Scott Kaufman-Ross.
Former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green is a four time Pro Bowler, but he's also an avid gamer. When it comes to Halo he's just another fan that looks up to professionals like Proximitty and LethuL for help with his improving his skills.
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If there's one person aside from the 800,000 unpaid federal workers who is hoping the government shutdown ends soon, it's Keisha Lance Bottoms. The mayor of Atlanta is less than two weeks away from hosting Super Bowl LIII, which is a logistical and security nightmare even when the city's airport *isn't* being slowed down by mass TSA sick-outs. "I'm extremely concerned," Bottoms said of the possibility that the shutdown may continue through Super Bowl weekend.
Cloud9 has been dubbed the most valuable esports company in the world by Forbes Magazine ー a title that is thanks, at least in part, to the organization's powerhouse VP of marketing, Eunice Chen. Chen is an esports vet who has worked for industry stalwart Riot Games and even runs her own tournament production company, Heroeshype. In an interview with Cheddar Sports, she said, "there are always different ways we can break into new markets in esports and beyond."
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