New Mexico Bingo

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full accord amongst the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The not for profit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game owners acquired just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.