Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 12/12/2023 12:25 pm by Marc
New Mexico has a stormy gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor refused 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 Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Amerindian bands, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.