New Mexico

While sports betting is legal in New Mexico, there are some strict restrictions surrounding the topic. As it stands, bettors can only place legal wagers at the five tribal casinos in the state, and there are no online betting options.

The rules regarding betting on college sports in New Mexico can be confusing. There are two major college programs in the state, New Mexico State and University of New Mexico, and the ability to bet on these teams varies by tribal casino. While there are no specific rules regarding the matter, some tribal casinos, like the Santa Ana Star Casino, prohibit wagers on in-state colleges. In contrast, other casinos will accept bets on them.

Outside of retail sports betting, residents or tourists of the Land of Enchantment can also download and use daily fantasy sports apps or place bets on horse races in person or online. Some apps for these markets include PrizePicks, Fliff, and TVG.

Online sports betting in The Land of Enchantment

The state of New Mexico and its local tribes entered a standard gaming compact back in 2001. It wasn’t until 2015 that this gaming compact would need to be renegotiated and signed, allowing 14 of the 17 gaming tribes in the state to offer Class III Gaming. No one would know it at the time, but this new gaming compact would eventually lead to legal sports betting in New Mexico.

Three years after this new gaming compact was signed, the Supreme Court overturned PASPA, which put the legalization of sports betting into the hands of individual states. Instead of the state government taking the initiative, the Pueblo of Santa Ana Tribe opened the state’s first sportsbook in October 2018. While no sports betting bill was in place, the tribe felt they could open this sportsbook since the gaming compact they signed said nothing about being unable to offer sports betting.

The Santa Ana Star Casino remained the only legal place to make a sports wager for seven months, and when other tribes realized the state was not stepping in to stop them, more sportsbooks started to pop up.

Since 2018, lawmakers in the state have made one full-fledged effort to get a sports betting bill passed. In 2021, HB 101 was introduced, and if passed, it would have legalized sports betting online and in retail form at the state's five racinos.

Despite its great promise, this bill died in the House Education Committee. Since then, there have been no bills regarding the actual legalization of sports betting; instead, lawmakers have proposed studies to determine how profitable the market could be. Unfortunately, none of these proposals have been passed, and a groundbreaking change is unlikely to happen in 2024.

Sports betting and gambling legislation in NM

Bettors must be at least 21 years old to place a legal sports wager in New Mexico. This is one of the lone gambling rules that applies to all five tribal casinos and race tracks in the state. As we’ve noted with betting on college sports, there are other restrictions that vary by tribal casino.

Due to the fact that there are no legal sports betting apps available in the state, bettors also do not have the option to utilize remote registration. Since sports betting is legal through gaming compacts, no regulatory body oversees the market, as each tribal gaming commission regulates its own operation. The US Bureau of Indian Affairs oversees all gaming tribes throughout the country.

Since there are no mobile sports betting apps in New Mexico, it would only make sense that online casinos and online poker remain illegal in the state. While these markets would be excellent additions to the state's betting landscape, the current focus seems to be on mobile sports betting. So even if mobile sports betting ever sees the light of day, that is not a guarantee that iGaming will as well.

Most recent updates from the NM sports betting scene

• May 17, 2024: Win totals for the 2024-25 college football season have been released, and the New Mexico Lobos win total is currently set at 1.5 with the over priced at (-176) on the FanDuel Sportsbook.

• December 8, 2023: Several sportsbooks, including Superbook and Caesars Sportsbook, are facing scrutiny due to reports of suspicious betting activity on the UNLV football game against New Mexico. The line quickly moved from the Rebels being 9-point favorites to as high as 16½ before UNLV's 56-14 victory on November 4th.

• November 2, 2023: BetMGM launches its sports betting services in New Mexico, marking its 28th market entry and expanding its customer base. The retail sportsbook is located at Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque and entertains a new audience.

• July 26, 2023: Elys Game Technology expands its presence in the United States by agreeing to power a new retail sportsbook at Santa Claran Casino Resort in Española Valley, New Mexico.

In-person sports betting sites and locations

Tribal casinos and commercial racinos are spread throughout the Land of Enchantment, but only five of those tribal casinos have decided to offer legal sports betting to their customers.

Just because there are five locations now does not mean that number can’t increase over time. Each tribal casino in the state is under a gaming compact that allows Class III gaming, which includes sports betting, so if another location wants to offer legal sports betting at some point, they would be able to.

Sports betting in neighboring states

A resident of New Mexico has a 50/50 chance of finding legalized sports betting when crossing the state's border. If they end up in Colorado or Arizona, they will find a wide range of legal mobile betting apps and retail casinos offering sportsbooks.

At the same time, if they end up in Texas or Oklahoma, they will find even fewer betting options than the ones offered in New Mexico. To learn more about why TX and OK have been unable to legalize sports betting, you can click the state’s name in the box below.

Potential sports betting revenue impact on New Mexico's economy

Many times, when a state’s government has little involvement in gambling or sports betting, the state’s reports regarding handle, revenue, and tax income are not available. That is the case in New Mexico, as we have no data to report for those categories. For as long as the Land of Enchantment keeps sports betting limited to tribal casinos, this will likely remain the case.

The tax rate for tribal casinos in New Mexico varies based on their adjusted net revenue. For example, from 2018 to 2030, if a casino makes between $40 and $80 million in revenue, it is subject to an 8.75% tax rate. That number could either go up or down depending on which revenue bracket the casino falls into during a given year.

Some states that either have no sports betting or have it in a limited capacity will run studies to estimate how much the state will make from sports betting, and while NM has tried to get proposals passed that would allow these studies, they have been unsuccessful.