• Home

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by the House in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

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

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is categorically favored in New Mexico. All types of operators try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s probably wishful thinking.

Log in