New Mexico has a rocky gaming history. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the Native casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that would not be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King announced a panel in 1990 to draft a contract with New Mexico Amerindian bands. When the task force came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, Governor King declined to sign the bargain. He held up a deal until 1994.

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

It took the CNA, passed by the New Mexico legislature, to get the process moving on a full contract between the Government of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. A decade had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes American Indian casino Bingo.

The non-profit Bingo business has grown from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game operators brought in just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the owners.

Bingo is apparently popular in New Mexico. All types of owners look for a piece of the action. Hopefully, the politicos are done batting over gambling as a hot button issue like they did in the 1990’s. That’s most likely hopeful thinking.