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New Mexico has a rocky gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it appeared that Indian wagering in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the Indian tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thereby denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

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

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a slice of the pie. With hope, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.