New Mexico’s
NEW MEXICO’S NON-INDIAN GAMBLING REVENUE DROPPED BY $6 MILLION IN 2014
Although tribal casino revenue rose from $810 million in 2011 to $863 million in 2012, non tribal gambling revenue dropped from $346 million to $341 million in the same time period. Non-Indian gambling consists of the racetrack slot revenue, pari-mutuel (live horse racing) betting, the state lottery and veteran and fraternal slot revenue. Most of the loss was incurred by the track slot machines.
An article on this story in Albuquerque Business First online can be read by clicking here.
This is pretty bad news for those gambling promoters who want to open a sixth track in New Mexico. The Gaming Control Board was pretty loathe to issue a sixth license when revenue to the tracks was holding steady, and will be even less likely to issue a new license when the tracks are cumulatively losing millions per year.
This is good news for those of us who are opposed to expanded gambling in the state, as it probably means no new license, and perhaps a race track or two may even shut down. Things must be getting pretty grim for most of the tracks, especially since the new fairgrounds casino is making a whole lot more money than it did before the new structure was built. Things must really be bad for the Sun Ray casino up by Farmington since the Navajos built the Flowing Water Casino outside of Shiprock, NM, nearly walking distance from the Sun Ray racino.
The notion that government (whether state or tribal) gambling is an economic development tool is a failed government policy and needs to be re-examined and discredited,. The fact that the tracks have been trying to get the state legislature to subsidize their live racing is more evidence of that fact.
