Bingo in New Mexico
Posted in Casino on 09/25/2025 06:25 am by Marc
New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Native casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico Indian bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. Ten years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.
Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of operators try for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting over gambling as a key matter like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.