New Mexico Bingo
Wednesday, 7. December 2016
New Mexico has a complex gaming background. When the IGRA was passed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the bargain. He would hold up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that Amerindian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Indian tribes, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.
It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.
Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting over gaming as a hot button issue like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s probably hopeful thinking.
Posted in Casino by Angel