New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. 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 American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Indian tribes. When the panel arrived at an accord with 2 big local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it appeared that Native gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native tribes, anti-gaming groups were able to tie the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing a deal, thus costing the state 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 legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased since Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown steadily since then. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the operators.

Bingo is categorically beloved in New Mexico. All types of operators look for a bit of the pie. Hopefully, the politicos are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.