River ups capacity for new-look Mâs Monumental

Argentinian Primera División football club River Plate has increased the final capacity of Mâs Monumental following its redevelopment, with the stadium now expected to seat 84,567 fans.

The increase is over 3,500 greater than had been initially announced, with the new-look Monumental already planned to be the biggest stadium in South America.

Argentinian newspaper Olé said that while River had always expected the initial 81,000 capacity would be exceeded, 82,000 was expected to be a more realistic figure. After the completion of the first stage of the project, modifications were said to have been made to the original plans adding more seats and increasing the capacities of the upper stands.

In April, River signed a seven-year stadium naming rights deal with South American retail company Grupo De Narváez, an agreement that has helped fund the redevelopment of El Monumental. The contract, which will run until April 2029, is reportedly worth $20m (£16.6m/€19.3m) and saw River’s home rebranded as Mâs Monumental.

River in March appointed Spanish consulting, engineering and architecture company IDOM as project manager of the venture. The stadium project was unanimously approved by the Buenos Aires giant’s assembly of member representatives and board of directors on February 23 after it was presented earlier in the month.

In November, River laid out its vision for the second phase of its redevelopment of Mâs  Monumental, stating that it would seek to transform its stadium into a cutting-edge venue which has the biggest capacity for a football facility in South America.

River in February 2021 returned to a revamped Mâs Monumental, with the first phase completed of what was intended to be a broader redevelopment project. The latest phase of work was set to focus on expanding Mâs Monumental by a further 9,000 seats, taking its capacity to 81,000.

Once complete, the redeveloped Mâs Monumental will surpass Estadio Monumental in Lima, Peru (80,093) and the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (78,838) as the largest stadium on the continent.