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New Mexico has a complex gaming past. When the IGRA was signed by Congress in Nineteen Eighty Nine, it seemed like New Mexico would be one of the states to get on the Indian casino bandwagon. Politics guaranteed that wouldn't be the case.

The New Mexico governor Bruce King appointed a task force in 1990 to discuss a contract with New Mexico Native bands. When the task force arrived at an agreement with 2 important local tribes a year later, Governor King 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 signed the compact with the American Indian bands, anti-gambling forces were able to hold the deal up in the courts. A New Mexico court ruled that the Governor had out stepped his bounds in signing the deal, thereby costing 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 legislature, to get the ball rolling on a full compact amongst the Government of New Mexico and its Indian bands. A decade had been squandered for gambling in New Mexico, which includes Amerindian casino Bingo.

The nonprofit Bingo business has gotten bigger from 1999. That year, New Mexico non-profit game providers acquired just $3,048 in revenues. This number grew to $725,150 in 2000, and surpassed a million dollars in 2001. Nonprofit Bingo revenues have grown constantly since then. Two Thousand and Five saw the greatest year, with $1,233,289 grossed by the providers.

Bingo is certainly beloved in New Mexico. All sorts of operators look for a piece of the pie. Hopefully, the politicians are through batting around gambling as a hot button matter like they did back in the 90's. That's probably wishful thinking.