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New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by Congress in 1989, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in Nineteen Ninety to negotiate a contract with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group arrived at an agreement with 2 big local tribes a year later, Governor King refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that Indian betting in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor signed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It took the CNA, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the process moving on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. Ten years had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since that time. 2005 witnessed the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All types of owners try for a bit of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gaming as an important matter like they did in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.