New Mexico Bingo
Posted in Casino on 09/26/2026 03:25 pm by Esperanza
New Mexico has a stormy 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 get on the Amerindian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a task force in 1990 to negotiate an accord with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with two important local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the deal up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore costing the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.
It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. 10 years had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.
The nonprofit Bingo industry has grown since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have increased steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.
Bingo is clearly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of owners look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting over gaming as a hot button matter like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.