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New Mexico has a bitter gaming history. When the IGRA was passed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino craze. Politics assured that wouldn’t be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King assembled a panel in Nineteen Ninety to draft a contract with New Mexico Native tribes. When the working group arrived at an agreement with two big local bands a year later, the Governor declined to sign the agreement. He would hold up a deal until 1994.

When a new governor took over in 1995, it seemed that American Indian gambling in New Mexico was now a certainty. But when the new Governor passed the accord with the Native tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had overstepped his bounds in signing the accord, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing revenues over the next several years.

It required the CNA, passed by the New Mexico government, to get the process moving on a full compact amongst the State of New Mexico and its Indian tribes. Ten years had been burned for gaming in New Mexico, which includes Indian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico charity game operators acquired just $3,048. That climbed to $725,150 in 2000, and passed a million dollars in revenues in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo earnings have increased constantly since that time. 2005 saw the biggest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the operators.

Bingo is clearly favored in New Mexico. All types of providers look for a bit of the action. With hope, the politicians are done batting around gaming as a key issue like they did in the 1990’s. That is probably wishful thinking.