Bingo Strategy

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

New Mexico has a bitter gaming background. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was signed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a working group in 1990 to create an accord with New Mexico Indian bands. When the working group came to an agreement with two prominent local bands a year later, Governor King declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in Nineteen Ninety Five, it seemed that Native gaming in New Mexico was a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-wagering groups were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court found that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, thus costing the government of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the Compact Negotiation Act, signed by the New Mexico house, to get the ball rolling on a full contract between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian tribes. A decade had been squandered for gaming in New Mexico, including Native casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo industry has grown from Nineteen Ninety-Nine. That year, New Mexico non-profit game owners brought in only $3,048 in revenues. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and exceeded one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a piece of the action. With hope, the politicos are through batting around gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 90’s. That’s most likely wishful thinking.