Bingo in New Mexico
by Brennen on Monday, July 7th, 2025
New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big 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 office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt hopeful thinking.
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