{"id":160805,"date":"2025-07-11T15:16:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T20:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=160805"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:22:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T20:22:28","slug":"source-new-mexico-mescalero-apache-tribe-seeks-answers-on-internet-betting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/07\/11\/source-new-mexico-mescalero-apache-tribe-seeks-answers-on-internet-betting\/","title":{"rendered":"Source New Mexico: Mescalero Apache Tribe seeks answers on internet betting"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Inn<\/a>
The Mescalero Apache Tribe owns and operates the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico. Photo: Brad Spry<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Mescalero tribe to seek state\u2019s help cracking down on companies allowing online sports gambling<\/div>\r\n
Friday, July 11, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

The vice president of a local tribe is asking the New Mexico Attorney General and the state Legislature to intervene against online gambling apps that he says are using a backdoor to allow illegal sports gambling here and, in doing so, threatening tribal gaming rights.\u00a0<\/p>

Mescalero Apache Reservation<\/a> Vice President Duane Duffy told a panel of state lawmakers this week that platforms like Kalshi allow customers to do online sports betting under the guise of commodity futures trading. The companies are \u201cwiggling\u201d their way into New Mexico, a state where online sports betting is illegal, he said.<\/p>

\u201cThat is a threat to the gaming market here in the state, and a clear violation of the state tribal gaming compacts,\u201d Duffy told members of the interim Economic & Rural Development & Policy Committee on Monday at the tribe\u2019s Inn of the Mountain Gods, which houses its casino. \u201cAnd so that is something that we are going to have to work together on [to] address.\u201d<\/p>

He said he and other tribes intend to approach lawmakers ahead of the 30-day legislative session in January to see whether there\u2019s a legislative way to crack down on the companies. He also intends to seek help from the New Mexico Attorney General, he said.\u00a0<\/p>

Duffy did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Neither did Kalshi.\u00a0<\/p>

Lauren Rodriguez, chief of staff\u00a0 for the New Mexico Attorney General, told Source New Mexico in an email that the office had received a letter from gaming tribes regarding the matter. The office has been in communication with one of the tribes, Sandia Pueblo, regarding Kalshi and the office is \u201ccontinuing to monitor developments in related lawsuits brought by other states,\u201d she said.<\/p> \r\n\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Ruidoso\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRuidoso and Mescalero officials seek state help as communities face post-fire flooding \u2022 Source New Mexico\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

More than a year later, the Village of Ruidoso is still rebuilding from the 2024 fires and subsequent floods, and hardening infrastructure.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Source\t\tSource New Mexico\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

Duffy\u2019s comments come as other states seek help from a federal agency to crack down on the companies, which they say are undermining hard-fought legislation regulating gambling at the state level.<\/p>

In early June, Arizona\u2019s director of gaming wrote a letter<\/a> to the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission, naming Kalshi as well as Robinhood and Crypto.com<\/a> as companies that bypass the state\u2019s gambling regulations by pretending they are allowing users to buy \u201ccontracts\u201d or engage in \u201ctrading\u201d financial products when in effect they are just trying to predict which team will win a sporting match.<\/p>

\u201cThe [companies] claim that their operations enable \u2018trading\u2019 of financial derivatives, which is conduct regulated by the [commission],\u201d Johnson wrote. \u201cIn truth, there is no meaningful difference between buying one of the contracts offered by the [companies] and placing a bet with any other sportsbook.\u201d<\/p>

Arizona is among seven states that sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi, according to online sports gambling news site SBCAmericas. <\/a>Several other states have launched investigations, according to the site.\u00a0<\/p>

The tribal gaming compacts between 14 tribes and pueblos in New Mexico result from negotiations between the tribes, the governor\u2019s office and the New Mexico Legislature. The 2015 gaming compact, which is in effect until 2037, requires the parties to reopen \u201cgood-faith negotiations\u201d if any \u201cinternet gaming\u201d is authorized in New Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>

Mescalero and other tribes cited that provision recently when seeking an official opinion from Torrez about the activities of Jackpocket, an app that allowed users to buy lottery tickets online.\u00a0<\/p>

In February, Torrez concluded<\/a> that Jackpocket\u2019s activities amounted to \u201cinternet gaming,\u201d which meant, per the compacts, the state needed to reopen negotiations with the tribes to evaluate its impact. Torrez also determined that Jackpocket was operating without a necessary authorization from the New Mexico Lottery Association.\u00a0<\/p>

Duffy told the committee Monday that as a result of the AG\u2019s intervention, Jackpocket has \u201csince ceased that operation when it comes to the online lottery sales.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Growth\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\tGrowth of sports betting may be linked to financial woes, new studies find \u2022 Source New Mexico\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

Three papers released this year found poor financial results for consumers in states with legalized sports gambling<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

\n\t\t\"Source\t\tSource New Mexico\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n

Rodriguez, Torrez\u2019s spokesperson, told Source that while it is monitoring the situation that the office would not be issuing a formal opinion about Kalshi like it did about Jackpocket, because the request for its opinion on the matter did not come from state elected officials like legislators or district attorneys. <\/p>

New Mexico Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) asked Duffy to elaborate on what he\u2019s asking the Legislature to do, suggesting he would like to avoid reopening compact negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cWhat\u2019s the solution to this? Because I don\u2019t think we can stop the internet,\u201d Sharer said.<\/p>

Options Duffy listed include lawsuits and seeking help from the governor\u2019s office, the Legislature or the AG. He told lawmakers he was just putting the issue \u201cin your ear\u201d because the problem would not be going away.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cThere\u2019s no mechanism that exists right now that allows the tribes or racinos to engage in internet gaming, and to have these outside entities from outside the state doing that\u2026it\u2019s taken out of our pockets, sending it out of state,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we don\u2019t have that ability then to revenue share to our full potential.\u201d<\/p>

According to the latest figures, tribal casinos across the state generated more than $219 million in \u201cadjusted net win\u201d<\/a> in the first quarter of 2025, which includes the amount of money made on gaming machines minus the amount paid out in non-cash prizes. The state received more than $20 million in revenues deposited into the general fund this quarter, as a result.\u00a0<\/p>

Duffy said the Inn of the Mountain Gods and its casino, which generated more than $15 million in the first quarter of 2025, constitute\u00a0 the tribe\u2019s sole source of revenue, excluding federal and state grants. The casino accounts for a huge part of that, especially as the tribe\u2019s ski resort increasingly loses customers due to reductions in snowpack, he said.\u00a0<\/p>