Bingo Strategy

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New Mexico has a stormy gambling background. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a working group in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the panel came to an accord with 2 important local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it appeared that Indian betting in New Mexico was a certainty. But when Governor Gary Johnson signed the contract with the Native bands, anti-gaming forces were able to tie the contract up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the accord, thereby costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the Government of New Mexico and its Native bands. 10 years had been lost for gambling in New Mexico, including American Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown steadily since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is apparently favored in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a bit of the pie. With hope, the politicos are through batting over gambling as an important factor like they did back in the 1990’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.