New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the state 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 house, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of owners try for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gambling as an important issue like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.
This entry was posted on February 5, 2026, 6:25 pm and is filed under Bingo. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.