The Chicago Sky revealed a first-of-its-kind partnership in an effort to restrict targeted harassment versus its players and staff.

- The Chicago Sky partnered with online safety firm Moonshot to fight online hate, harassment, and abuse targeting players and coaches.
- The team is the very first in the WNBA to carry out innovation to monitor risks across social media and the dark web.
- The move comes amid rising abuse in women's sports, with the Sky distinctively at the center given their prominent star Angel Reese.

According to a release Tuesday, the club partnered with online safety company Moonshot to "utilize nationwide security technology to keep the group's complete lineup safe," ending up being the first WNBA group to go into such an arrangement.

"Hate and harassment have no place in sports," said Nadia Rawlinson, co-owner and operating chairman of the Chicago Sky. "Our collaboration with Moonshot has to do with proactively tackling online hate, harassment, and abuse across social networks and on the dark web, so our players and coaches can focus on the video game of basketball and thrilling our fans all over the world."

Moonshot, according to the release, is a leading international providers to end online abuse and violence, with previous partnerships consisting of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams, teams throughout NCAA sports, in addition to significant tech business such as Google, Facebook, and Spotify.

The contract's goal ultimately looks for to fix the litany of online harassment the Sky's athletes face, recognize and eliminate concerning content, examine and reduce dangers, and attack underlying causes and drivers of online abuse thanks to a devoted group of online security professionals.

Chicago Sky uniquely in crosshairs

"The data is perfectly clear. Female athletes, particularly women of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, face out of proportion quantities of online harassment, abuse, and risks of violence," Rawlinson added by means of the release. "Unfortunately, these incidents are increasing commensurately with the growth in ladies's sports, sports wagering, and use of expert system."

It's possibly no accident too the Chicago Sky picked to become pioneers in the field and proactively sought methods to secure their stars.

Most significantly, the Sky are led by star Angel Reese, whose role as something of a foil to growing WNBA megastar Caitlin Clark put her squarely in the middle of significant hate. Just last month, Reese was apparently the victim of racist comments throughout the Sky's season opener versus Clark's Indiana Fever.

"There's no place in this league for that," Reese said of the supposed remarks. "The WNBA and our group and our organization has done a terrific job supporting me."

That was simply the most recent occurrence the Sky dealt with. However, last season the Sky dealt with supposed taunts that included racist language as they exited their group bus ahead of a video game versus the Washington Mystics.

"We are honored to support the Chicago Sky in this tactical and pioneering effort to safeguard their players and coaches. Our work is grounded in a years of nationwide security experience comprehending the origins of online abuse and what to do about it," stated Vidhya Ramalingam, CEO of Moonshot. "We are grateful for the opportunity to leverage our technology and expertise to advance player safety at a time when interest in females's sports is at an all-time high. We hope this special, first-of-its-kind partnership will serve as a design for other sports teams and leagues."

Just last month, the Chicago Sky revealed a collaboration with bet365, the very first WNBA group to do so. Now, the franchise is leading the method in combating hate and harassment.