The Maloof Money Cup released the first set of 24 skaters invited to compete at the New York and DC stops with some skateboarding legends headlining, but also some very notable names left off the list. 

Since Rob Dyrdek announced last month they were having skaters sign an exclusive compete contract to only skate in Street League and X Games, the questioned remained which skaters were going to choose which contest.

The first invite list from MMC includes legends like Geoff Rowley, Andrew Reynolds, Dennis Busenitz accompanied by a rich pool of young talent. No shortage of talented skaters will be on display in New York and DC.

But what will be missing from the Maloof Money Cup are mainstream names like Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriquez, Chas Ortiz, Sean Malto, and Eric Koston who all appear to be competing in Street League.

The biggest surprise to this list has to be the absence of Chris Cole, a defending three-time winner of the MMC 100,000 prize purse. One would assume his loyalties would be with the Maloofs, after all, the contest has definitely been good to him.

Last year as the rumors about the exclusive contract began to make news; Joe Maloof offered a $1 million bonus to any skater who won four straight Maloof Money Cup contests. That was an obvious statement toward Cole who has won the past three contests.

Dyrdek the founder of Street League as since come out and said, Cole will be the exception, he'll be allowed to compete in NYC at the Maloof Money cup for a shot at four in a row and the million dollar bonus. "We're not going to stop Chris Cole from getting a million dollars, and then he's right back in Street League, and all the other skaters are for it," Dyrdek said.

After glancing over the initial list of riders for both contests, the real winners are the fans. The sport continues to grow and we are all benefiting from it. We now have the chance to watch two different contests with different skaters with different formats all push their skateboarding for huge prize purses.

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

Here's a list of the first 24 invited skaters:

Alex Olson
Andrew Reynolds
Anthony Van Engelen
Arto Saari
Austyn Gillette
Bastien Salabanzi
Brandon Westgate
Brian Anderson
Bryan Herman
Chris Haslam
Chris Pfanner
David Gravette
Dennis Busenitz
Garrett Hill
Geoff Rowley
Grant Taylor
Greg Lutzka
Justin Brock
Leo Romero
Lizard King
Sierra Fellers
Tom Asta
Tony Trujillo
Vincent Alvarez