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New Mexico has a bitter gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore denying the state of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game providers brought in only $3,048 in revenues. 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 that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gambling as an important issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.

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