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New Mexico Bingo
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 cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All kinds of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.
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