Bingo in New Mexico
Saturday, 3. May 2025
New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Alivia