August 10, 2025
In a historic achievement, Raidiant president Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo has been recognized as an Emmy-winning observer for her work in Valorant Champions 2024.
sapphiRe has been active in the gaming scene for almost two decades, with experience spanning across dozens of different titles. She wears many hats, but it’s her relentless work advocating for marginalized genders and delivering top-tier production services that truly define her legacy. She’s also an excellent esports observer, a role in which she has now been recognized by the Emmy Awards, shattering barriers and setting new standards for the industry.
In a significant achievement for esports production, Riot Games took home the Emmy for Outstanding Esports Championship Coverage at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York City. The award recognized their exceptional production of EDward Gaming’s intense 3-2 victory over Team Heretics in the 2024 VALORANT Champions Grand Final. The Emmy announcement mentions the team behind the event as the best to do it in 2024.
Valorant Champions 2024 was action-packed, but the viewing experience was made tenfold better by the talented production team, which was headlined by none other than sapphiRe, making history as the first-ever Emmy-winning woman in the esports production world. While she had been nominated four times before, it was her work on the gripping 2024 Valorant Champions grand finals, where she observed alongside Alberto Chavez, David Kuntz, and Nicholas Tesolin, that finally earned her the coveted Emmy.
Why Heather Garozzo’s Emmy win is a big milestone in esports
Esports is still maturing in terms of inclusivity and equality. While women are certainly more visible than they were a decade ago, it’s far from an industry where making big strides as a woman is easy. So, when the Emmys unveiled their list of winners for the 2024 esports season, fans couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride seeing sapphiRe’s name on the list.
This is a massive glass-ceiling-shattering moment for women across the globe, especially those working in esports. However, it’s important to note that sapphiRe’s historic success as an observer and advocate for marginalized genders didn’t happen overnight. For much of her career, her contributions went largely unrecognized. The Raidiant president has spent nearly two decades juggling various roles in esports, often behind the scenes, before finally getting the recognition she truly deserves.
Heather’s esports journey began in the late 2000s when she first dipped her toes into the industry, landing a job as a game promotions assistant. That was the time when esports hadn’t fully bloomed, and you could count the number of women who worked behind the scenes. In 2012, she scratched her competitive itch by briefly playing Counter-Strike as a professional player. From there, her resume grew as she took on various roles, eventually finding her calling in observing.
From a humble beginning in 2015, when she was asked to observe an ESL FACEIT Group event without even knowing what an observer was, Heather’s career has evolved into one where she now in-game directs some of the most revered esports broadcasts in the world.
As one of the best esports observers out there, she has worked on several major esports broadcasts, including the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major 2022, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the CS scene. She has been part of S-tier productions that often rival and surpass the viewership of traditional sports. Her experience spans multiple Emmy-nominated shows, with her first nomination coming from her work on ELEAGUE Major.
Despite her growing influence, it wasn’t until her work on ELEAGUE Major that Heather received her first Emmy nomination. Eight years later, with two Emmy nominations under her belt and countless World Championships to her name, Heather now directs some of the most respected esports broadcasts in the world.
Amidst earning Emmy nominations and achieving personal milestones, Heather also co-founded Raidiant, a platform that amplifies the voices of women and marginalized genders in esports. Having started her journey at a time when the number of women in the industry was a rarity, Heather recognized the need for an organization that would provide both visibility and opportunities. Her relentless efforts to break barriers in esports made her the perfect choice to become the first woman inducted into the Esports Hall of Fame.
Heather’s status as the “first woman” to achieve so many milestones isn’t just a personal victory; it’s a signal that more women will follow. The word “first” here isn’t about being alone at the top; it’s about having the courage to break into an industry that had no room for women, paving the way for others to step in.