Casino

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the compact with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.