New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. When the IGRA was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss an accord with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the American Indian tribes, anti-gambling groups were able to tie the accord up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. Ten years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a key issue like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely wishful thinking.