• Home

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to draft an accord with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby 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 government, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased 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 revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of owners look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.

Log in