New Mexico Bingo
Posted in Casino on 12/22/2022 12:25 pm by Ashly
New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the situation.
The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.
When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the compact with the Native tribes, anti-gambling forces were able to hold 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 house, to get the ball rolling on a full compact between the Government of New Mexico and its American Indian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Indian casino Bingo.
The non-profit Bingo business has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.
Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All sorts of operators try for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.