New Mexico Bingo

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New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a key factor like they did in the 90’s. That’s without doubt hopeful thinking.