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New Mexico has a stormy gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by the House in 1989, it seemed like New Mexico might be one of the states to cash in on the American Indian casino bandwagon. Politics assured that would not be the situation.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to create a compact with New Mexico Amerindian tribes. When the working group came to an agreement with two big local tribes a year later, the Governor refused to sign the agreement. He held up a deal until Nineteen Ninety Four.

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 signed the contract with the American Indian tribes, anti-wagering groups were able to tie the accord up in courts. A New Mexico court found that Governor Johnson had overstepped his bounds in signing the compact, thus denying the state of New Mexico many hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees over the next several years.

It required the CNA, signed by the New Mexico government, to get the ball rolling on a full accord between the State of New Mexico and its Amerindian bands. 10 years had been burned for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo industry has increased from 1999. In that year, New Mexico not for profit game operators brought in only $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and passed one million dollars in 2001. Non-profit Bingo revenues have increased steadily since then. 2005 saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 earned by the providers.

Bingo is clearly popular in New Mexico. All sorts of providers look for a slice of the action. With hope, the politicos are done batting around gaming as a key factor like they did in the 1990’s. That is most likely hopeful thinking.