Vamos, Vamos, Vamos River Plate!

January 11th started with the regular check-in at 8:30 in the lobby of our hotel and then we got on the bus at around 9:30 for the adventure to the stadium of Club Atlético River Plate - Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti or El Monumental as the locals called it. Arriving at the stadium was wonderful as we got to see the outside look of the spectacular stadium. Once we entered, we were greeted by Guido Baroli who is the sponsorship manager of River Plate. He gave a presentation on the history of the stadium and the marketing strategy that they use with their fans.

He explained that the stadium is the biggest in Argentina with capacity of 61,688 people. It was built in 1936 but the original shape of the stadium was that of a horseshoe and it took 10 million dollars to close it up in order for it to be eligible to host the 1978 World Cup. We learned an interesting fact about the stadium - there is a school that is located inside of it that goes from kindergarten up until college. There you can study to be a gymnastics professor, reporter, and coach. After the brief description of the stadium and the history behind it, the presenter turned his focus on the marketing and budgeting sphere. We learned that 70% of the fans come from the digital medias. The main sources of income are match days, TV, and advertisements. He told us that all of the content that they release is produced in the stadium and nowhere else. The brand department of the club consists of an internal community manager, two graphic designers, photographer, cameraman, and a journalist, and they are all 100% dedicated to the club. We also found out that there was a huge change in the system of general managers 4 years ago, which used to consisted of 24 positions whereas now they are down to 7 and that makes the club and stadium easier to manage. Baroli also explained where some of the profits come from. He told us that two years ago they had a change with the contracts of all players, which now obligates them to give 50% of the revenue that they make while representing the club to River Plate. Apart from that, the tickets usually cost about $100 per game and $1000 per season. They do not like having too many sponsors as they do not want to be "selling themselves out" and they are fine with the limited number that they currently have and are being represented on their jerseys.

In the Q&A section of the presentation, he told us that his favorite part of his job is having a lot of contacts and being able to interact with people from different nations and cultures. One student asked about the problems that he has to deal with and he said that it is easy to have a crisis when using social media. If a player does something wrong it easily comes back to the club. He also has to deal with counterfeit jerseys because there are a lot out there and there is nothing efficient to stop it currently. Fortunately, he has a plan to fight the counterfeits by proposing to make some of the jerseys cheaper and more affordable.

After the presentation, it was time for the tour of the stadium! The tour guide was Patricio Tessari or Patrick. The first thing he taught us was the fan song/chant of River Plate:
Vamos, vamos, vamos River Plate (X2)
Vamoooooos River Plaatee!

We kept chanting it along the way and we were all excited to sing along. At first some of us were shy, but shortly after we all were chanting with our hearts. Patrick told us that he is a huge fan and has 5 tattoos of the team on his body.
We learned that the team was created with the falling of two other teams and the name comes after a box from a ship that they saw. On the box was written "river plate" and that is where the name comes from. The stadium also has facilities for tennis, basketball, and other sports. It also has the biggest swimming pool in South America. They often host events like concerts. Some famous faces that have been in the stadium are Madonna, AC/DC, Metallica, Michael Jackson, and many others. When it comes to hosting big soccer games the visitors are sectioned off because the fans are very passionate and accidents happen. There are metal bars with barbed wire all around. He also explained that there is a lot of security and police guarding the soccer games as they can get eventful.

All of the students seemed happy to tour around the biggest stadium in Argentina. Kay Bauerlein found it "interesting that the stadium is used for schooling as well as its expected game use". Others like Gian Perrotta said "A beautiful sight to see. You could feel the rich culture that River Plate brought to Argentina. It was an amazing experience!" Caitlin McCosh explained that "I had never heard of River Plate before this trip and now that I have, I have a new found appreciation for the team because of everyone's team spirit and enthusiasm within the stadium!"
As a soccer fan I really appreciated the tour and all the information given both by Patricio Tessari and Guido Baroli. It was amazing learning about all the things that you usually do not ask about or it is difficult to find information about. All the insights were very important and I believe I learned a lot from the presentation and the tour of El Monumental!