Third New Mexico Casino Prepares To Offer Sports Betting

• The Isleta Pueblo say their Isleta Resort & Casino sportsbook is ready to be opened to the public.
• The Isleta Casino sportsbook will be the third active legal book in NM.
• New Mexico sports betting is limited to land-based venues only and offers no legal online component.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Announced Tuesday, the Isleta Pueblo will be launching New Mexico’s third sportsbook sometime in the near future. A concrete timeline for the opening of the wagering lounge at the Isleta Resort & Casino has not been set.

The Isleta Casino is able to offer sports betting because of the unique approach that the state has taken regarding sports betting legalization.

Or, more precisely, they’re able to offer it because the state has taken no approach to sports betting legalization whatsoever.

The New Mexico government has not passed any sports wagering legislation since the federal PASPA ban was lifted, and there are no sports wagering laws even being considered at the state level.

As there are no state laws criminalizing or legalizing sports wagering, Class III New Mexico tribal casino operators are actually able to offer the pastime in accordance with their existing gaming compacts.

In New Mexico, Class III gaming is expressly defined as “all forms of gaming that are not Class I gaming or Class II gaming.” This is per the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA).

Most states modified the framework of the IGRA when creating their own tribal gaming compacts, building in various clauses that would limit Class III gaming to standard house-banked casino card and table games.

However, because New Mexico made no such provisions in their own documents (and because the state never made sports betting illegal in its own official statutes, deferring instead to federal law), as soon as the Supreme Court overturned the federal ban, tribal venues in the state were legally empowered to offer sports betting.

The first casino to open its betting lounge to the public was the Santa Ana Star in October 2018. The Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort followed this past March.

No Laws Means No Mobile

One aspect where New Mexico sports betting falters is in its lack of online gaming. Because Internet-based gambling is against New Mexico law, mobile sports wagering cannot be offered until such time that the state government lifts those restrictions.

As a result, sports wagering – while nominally legal by default – is limited to physical tribal properties in the state.

It is not clear if New Mexico sportsbooks could offer mobile betting apps that are geofenced to these venues, but for now, New Mexico sports betting is an on-site endeavor only.

Hopefully, the state government will formally legalize both sports betting and mobile sports betting sometime in the next few years. Until then, even with a few land-based options, the majority of sports bettors in New Mexico will take their business elsewhere.

News tags: Isleta Casino | New Mexico | New Mexico sportsbooks