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New Mexico has a complex gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by the House in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it looked like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the American Indian casino craze. Politics guaranteed that wouldn’t be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in Nineteen Ninety to discuss a contract with New Mexico American Indian bands. When the panel came to an agreement with two big local bands a year later, Governor King refused to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took office in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gaming in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the contract with the Indian bands, anti-wagering forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the deal, therefore denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full contract amongst the State of New Mexico and its Native tribes. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Not for profit Bingo earnings have grown constantly since then. 2005 witnessed the largest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the owners.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All kinds of providers look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did back in the 90’s. That is probably hopeful thinking.