The global pandemic silenced tribal casinos in 2020 and began a long climb back to economic prosperity, but recent data reveals that the resurgence has come full circle and New Mexico casinos are back to making money at pre-pandemic levels.
As tribal casinos regain their economic prosperity, it is likely that New Mexico sports betting will also experience a resurgence.
Back in Black
From January through September of 2020 New Mexico casinos saw the steepest drop in revenue in the nation – a whopping 71.9%!
COVID-19 restrictions put the lights out in many casinos all over the country and even when they were allowed to reopen, the mask mandates, social distancing, and a dizzying number of other governmental restrictions saw a slow trickle of customers return rather than the deluge casino operators were hoping.
But the pandemic is now in our rearview mirrors and New Mexico casinos are becoming healthy once again. According to the New Mexico Gaming Control Board, the $203 million in revenue derived from gaming machines over the first quarter of 2023 slightly eclipsed the same time in 2019 before the pandemic struck the United States.
Michelle Pato, the lead attorney for the New Mexico Gaming Control Board noted the optimistic figures and stated, “It’s hard in an industry that had to be non-existent during the pandemic. We don’t have online gaming here, so everything completely shut down.”
And without online gambling in the state, tribal casinos are the only way to go for those looking to bet a few bucks. Pato explained: “You had the people that really can’t take those risks at all, so they’re not going out. There are people who maybe just don’t want to deal with all that.”
Many of those who fell into the high-risk categories would stay home rather be exposed to the virus – better to be safe than sorry. Pato believes the turnaround is here to stay: “I’ve seen some enthusiasm, some desire to make things even better which is really nice to see, and that’s probably in the last year that I’ve really seen that happening.”
Sandia Leads the Way
New Mexico taxes only slot play in its Native American casinos which is why there are no revenue reports for table games. However, the data does show that Sandia Resort & Casino is at the head of the pack with $47 million in revenue from January through March, more than doubling its nearest rivals, Isleta Resort & Casino, and Santa Ana Star Casino Hotel.
But while other casinos were panicking during COVID, the Sandia was expanding. Sandia Pueblo Gov. Stuart Paisano expressed what the casino did while it was inoperable.
“The second floor is not occupied right now. So, part of that area, we enhanced our HVAC units to provide more clean air on the south side of the casino so that our customers can enjoy a fresher environment, so to speak.
“And then our new sports bar is located on the third floor. So that was always the plan with the expansion that had been in development since 2019. We started construction and then COVID hit,” said Paisano.
All of that work has apparently paid off and the New Mexico casino industry as a whole appears to be fully recovered from the crippling effects of the global pandemic.
Calculators
