New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a working group in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 important local bands 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 Native betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the contract with the Amerindian bands, anti-gambling groups were able to hold the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing a deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, passed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. 10 years had been lost for gaming in New Mexico, including Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since that time. Two Thousand and Five saw the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the pie. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as an important factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is without doubt wishful thinking.