Dorian Roldán discusses AAA's goal to get more eyeballs in the United States.
AAA currently has a deal with FITE TV, and the company has also had TV specials air on Estrella TV. Moving forward, the company is determined to grow its audience in the United States.
In an interview with John Poz and Lavie Margolin on The Business of the Business, General Director of Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Dorian Roldán was asked about AAA's plans for streaming in the United States. He described how they have been happy with AAA's numbers on FITE, but the company's priority is getting more eyeballs. Roldán stated that this has not been easy in the United States market, but they are looking for new opportunities. He stated that they hope to make a decision in the second half of 2023 or in 2024.
“There’s a lot of points in that conversation. At the end of the day, it could be a transaction… FITE [is] in my option the most important and the most relevant. The numbers that we have done with FITE are really impressive, at least in a standpoint of view from Mexico, and we are super happy working with them. But as you know also, the most important thing for us is to have more eyeballs, and it’s not easy. It’s not an easy challenge that we have in America. We were having discussions for almost a year and a half with people from Univision. At the end, we weren’t in a position to close a deal with them. So right now, we are looking for new opportunities. We are having conversations with a couple of [unclear] in the US. We are also having conversations… it’s a little of the dilemma of the chicken and the egg. What is going first? To create more eyeballs, we have digital in order to close a better deal with our regular network. So we are in that dilemma. We are having conversations to create something like a docuseries or something like that, that can give much more engagement to the American audience. We are also having with a couple of possibilities in looking to put our content in the US. We are also having conversations about best channel to be in America. So in terms of options, there’s a lot of things that you can do or even just go create a fanbase, giving your product for free in platforms like Twitch or YouTube. So I think we are going to take a decision in the second semester of this year. The beginning of the year, we have been really busy with the Mexican market. There’s a lot of things happening here in Mexico. We need to focus also really well in the American market, but I think that is going to happen in 2024," Roldán said.
AAA's TV specials with Estrella TV came up in the conversation. When asked whether there will there be more of them, Roldán stated that they are having discussions. He noted that AAA will take the best option for the company, and they hope to have "something real", either in the second half of 2023 or in 2024.
“We’re having also discussions with Estrella. With Estrella, it’s just the stand-alone of TripleManias, nothing more than that. 2023 has been a really challenging year in terms of content. Everybody’s cutting expenses in the content area. But the sports at the same time are giving much more value to the TV rights. So we are in that state that are not so big to have a multi-million dollar deal, and we are not so small to be so desperate to close a deal of pennies. So we are going to take the best option for the company, and we hope to have something for real at least in the second semester or next year," Roldán said.
Roldán was also asked about AAA's potential plans to hold live shows in the United States. He noted that the market has been difficult for AAA, and the company needs a partner to help them run live events in the United States, Roldán made it clear that they are having conversations and looking into the possibility of holding beta shows in test markets.
“US has been a difficult market for AAA. There’s a lot of potential over there, but we haven’t been knowing how to take that potential of the brand in terms of live touring. We produced a show in December in Phoenix. In terms of attendance, in terms of the quality of the show, was really, really good. Everybody was happy. But in terms of economics, [it] wasn’t as expected for us. So basically what we are looking for, and that’s the kind of conversation that we’re having right now, we need a partner, and we need a partner in America who knows how to run live events for the Mexican market. So there are not so many companies that do this in America. There are just a couple of them that are super successful. So we are having conversations with them to know if there’s a possibility to run some kind of beta shows in certain markets to know the potential about it. It’s also again the chicken and the egg dilemma. What goes first, a TV show to get a network that can get eyeballs to the property, or to launch our live event and our touring of… I don’t know how many cities. So we are working on that. It’s always on our radar, but we have been there. It hasn’t been as successful as we’re worth. But we will try. We will try and try until we have success over there," he said.
During the interview, Roldán also discussed AAA's relationship with NWA. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Roldán had to say about AAA's relationship with AEW.
The card for AAA's May 20 tapings can be found here.
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