New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the task force came to an accord with two prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.