Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Bingo on 09/16/2023 07:25 pm by Eileen
New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in Nineteen Ninety to draft a compact with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering forces were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in only $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.