New Mexico Bingo
Thursday, 4. March 2021
New Mexico has a rocky gambling past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to create a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as an important issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Alivia