Bingo in New Mexico
New Mexico has a stormy gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force came to an agreement with 2 prominent local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gaming as a hot button factor like they did in the 90’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.
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