Talk about catching us off-guard!

New Mexico is the sixth official state to launch sports betting following the federal ban on the industry being declared null and void in May of 2018.

But how did this come about? NM hadn’t put forward any legislation and wasn’t such an idea against what state law said anyway?

This may be the case but that didn’t stop the Pueblo of Santa Ana tribe. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say.

Let’s take a closer look at one of the more unique frameworks for sports betting.

Answering the question posed requires some explanation but it’s important to note the tribe managed to satisfy two key criteria to get sports betting in on its own.

Firstly, state law in NM doesn’t explicitly forbid sports betting.

Secondly, for sports betting to be approved it needs to be absent from a list of prohibited Class III games in the tribal-state compact* (an agreement which aims to keep an equilibrium between two political entities) which it is. Confusingly though it’s not on the list of authorized Class III games either.

The ambiguous nature of sports betting in NM and where it sits within the laws, has culminated in the gray area being taken full advantage of.

It’s a loophole which has helped create the most unlikely of sports betting stories. This said, New Mexico aren’t alone in the emergence of tribal sports betting - similar instances exist in both Nevada and Mississippi.

New Mexico is unique in having a single tribe having a standalone industry though with sports betting active across the whole of the aforementioned states.

The sportsbook at The Santa Ana Star Casino and Hotel in Bernalillo is the only place within NM you can go to bet. Operated by USBookmaking, the sportsbook is open seven days a week and caters for all types of bet except those on local teams University of NM and NM State.

Wagering is limited to this location only - at least for now - with gambling illegal elsewhere in the state.

Nobody anticipated the sports betting landscape even reaching this stage so who knows what’s next in New Mexico!?

The lack of clarity in the tribal compact certainly leaves the door open for the state’s 17 other tribes to launch sports betting, should they decide to make a move.

It’s believed the majority will assign themselves a watching brief for the time being though in order to see what comes of the launch at Saint Ana.

Steps to refine the language used in state law and remove any gray area would be the next logical move but with this asier said than done, it’s more likely we’ll see fellow tribes in NM introducing their own frameworks.