In an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape, lotteries face the same challenge as nearly every consumer brand: capturing attention in a world overflowing with choices.
For scratch tickets, visual impact definitely matters. But the most effective games do more than stand out at retail; they deliver on the promise of something bigger.
This understanding is fueling growing interest in licensed entertainment partnerships, where recognizable brands, beloved characters, and fan communities can transform a ticket into something far more engaging.
For Alchemy3, an excellent example is clearly illustrated through a new partnership that taps into one of the most visually iconic and culturally rich forms of entertainment in the world: Legends of Lucha Libre.
The New Mexico Lottery is the first to launch a Legends of Lucha Libre scratch game, providing a real-time industry case study that shows how entertainment properties with authentic audience connections can bring fresh energy to lottery products.
More Than Wrestling
Lucha Libre is more than professional wrestling. Deeply rooted in Hispanic culture through its iconic characters, colorful masks, storytelling, and high-flying athleticism, it has grown beyond its traditional audience. Once seen as a regional spectacle, it now enjoys rising mainstream visibility.
For lotteries seeking authentic ways to connect with Hispanic audiences while appealing to broader entertainment fans, this creates a compelling opportunity.
“The New Mexico Lottery has a long history of introducing new products that capture the imagination of in-state consumers and encourage trial,” said Fivi Rondiri, Account Director at Alchemy3. “And their new Legends of Lucha Libre scratch game delivers fun, entertainment, and cultural relevance that speak directly to New Mexico consumers.”
Going Big
New Mexico’s launch demonstrated how the partnership functioned as a broader brand activation, effectively linking the scratch game to the heritage, personality, and high-energy appeal of Lucha Libre. The campaign capitalized on the sport’s popularity, featuring well-known luchadores to extend activations across multiple channels, including public relations outreach, broadcast appearances, social media promotion and custom digital content featuring Legends of Lucha Libre talent.
The promotional effort behind the launch also leaned into authenticity, an essential factor when working with passionate fan communities. Exclusive giveaways included highly collectible masks worn and signed by luchadores themselves, creating a tangible connection between the game and the entertainment property.
For lotteries, this approach marks an important shift. A licensed game can simply feature recognizable artwork, or it can become a multi-channel brand platform that generates conversation, social engagement, and valuable earned media, amplified by luchadores through their own social posts and in-person retailer appearances.
“We work hard to understand what kind of content will resonate best with New Mexico consumers, and we try to deliver relevant content whenever we’re able,” noted Carolyn Cabell, Chief Operating Officer at the Lottery. “And the cross-cultural popularity of the Legends of Lucha Libre that Alchemy3 brought to the table provided a perfect match.”
From Scratch Ticket to Main Event
In addition to these sales and marketing benefits, the Legends of Lucha Libre partnership delivered a standout experiential opportunity. On May 9, the New Mexico Lottery sponsored a LIVE wrestling event at Albuquerque’s National Hispanic Cultural Center, featuring actual celebrity Legends of Lucha Libre performers alongside local luchadores. This unique activation further strengthened the Lottery’s brand presence, attracted new play, and energized its existing player base.
This kind of “live event” experiential extension creates a new, more durable kind of player connection. Rather than a simple, relatively nondescript ticket purchase, players are invited into an event, a community, and a shared entertainment moment. Meet-and-greet opportunities with featured talent deepened engagement even further, transforming what might otherwise be a transactional product into something memorable and social.
Reaching Players Through Relevance
As lotteries continue to explore ways to attract new audiences while maintaining strong engagement with existing players, authenticity and audience alignment become increasingly important.
The Legends of Lucha Libre brand offers multiple strategic advantages: strong visuals, recognizable characters, passionate fan engagement, and meaningful audience resonance, particularly in markets with strong Hispanic communities.
The future of lottery innovation is unlikely to be defined solely by new play mechanics or bigger prizes. Increasingly, it appears it will be shaped by the ability to create experiences that players want to be part of. For Alchemy3, the New Mexico launch demonstrates how licensed entertainment partnerships can be designed as full-spectrum engagement vehicles rather than one-dimensional game concepts.