New Mexico Bingo
Posted in Casino on 09/02/2021 07:25 am by Jarrett
New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an agreement with two important local bands 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 seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, therefore costing the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. Ten years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since that time. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.