Navajo Nation gaming pact reviewed by New Mexico lawmakers

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

FIre Rock Casino in Church Rock, New Mexico. Photo Courtesy Fire Rock Casino.

With just a few days left in the legislative session, lawmakers in New Mexico are close to ratifying a new Class III gaming compact with the Navajo Nation.

The current deal expires in 2015. The new compact runs through 2037 and would require the tribe to share up to 10.75 percent of gaming revenues with the state.

In exchange, the tribe will be able to open up to five casinos and operate them 24 hours a day. Derrick Watchman, the chief executive officer for the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, said locations haven't been identified so far.

“We don’t have anything in mind at this point,” Watchman told the Committee on Compacts, which voted 11-4 to advance the agreement, The Albuquerque Journal reported. A copy of the compact is posted on the committee's web site.

The tribe currently operates two Class III facilities and one Class II facility in New Mexico.

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