Bingo in New Mexico

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New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.