New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress 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 situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to draft a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is apparently beloved in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
May 28th, 2025
Mohammed
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