Bingo

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel came to an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.