Bingo in New Mexico

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a complex gambling background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

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

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.