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New Mexico has a complex gambling history. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the compact with the Amerindian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to hold the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.