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New Mexico has a rocky gaming background. 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 craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a panel in 1990 to discuss a compact with New Mexico American Indian tribes. When the task force arrived at an agreement with two prominent local tribes 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 over in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native wagering in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the accord with the Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the contract up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, therefore denying the government of New Mexico hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It took the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Native casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has gotten bigger since 1999. That year, New Mexico charity game providers brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All kinds of providers try for a slice of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as an important factor like they did in the 90’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.