Bingo in New Mexico

by Stanley on January 15th, 2023

New Mexico has a bitter gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with 2 prominent local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. A decade had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.

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