Bingo in New Mexico
by Harold on Tuesday, October 28th, 2025
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Amerindian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in Nineteen Ninety to create a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, the Governor declined to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until 1994.
When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It required the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian bands. 10 years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.
The not for profit Bingo business has grown since 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of owners try for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.
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