In the country with the world's worst recent inflation, a soccer club just sold out 85,018 seats for the 105th match in a row.
The brand loyalty math on this should mass-humble every CMO on Earth.
105 home games. 85,018 fans every time. A bigger crowd than any NFL stadium fits. Four years straight. Zero empty seats. Over 8 million tickets sold during the run.
Now layer in the country.
The streak started in February 2022, when Argentine annualized inflation was running 50%. It peaked above 200% in late 2023. The peso lost roughly 80% of its dollar value during the run. 91% of Argentine households carry debt and 58% of those loans last year went to buying food. The average state pension is $300 a month.
Argentines who can barely afford groceries filled the world's biggest soccer stadium twice a month for four straight years.
The club is River Plate. They've held the highest average attendance in world football for three years running, ahead of Real Madrid, ahead of any Premier League ground.
The response from leadership is the tell. River just announced a $100 million expansion to push capacity to 101,000 by 2029, partnered with the German firm that built the roofs at Real Madrid's Bernabéu and Tottenham. They're betting demand keeps climbing past 85,000 in a country still running 33% inflation.
This is what identity-based products do that subscription products cannot. When the currency melts and groceries get bought on credit, the line item that survives is the one their grandfather had. River's product is the only asset in Argentina holding real value while the peso loses it.
Every founder talks about "brand loyalty." Most watch churn spike after a 5% price hike. River raised effective ticket prices through 200%+ inflation and grew their waitlist.
The capacity number is engineered. 85,018. The last two digits commemorate the 2018 final River won against their archrival in Madrid. They built a championship into the building.
You cannot replicate that with a CRM.
"¿Qué debería estudiar mi hijo?" Es la pregunta que escucho cada vez más frecuentemente.
Y la mayoría de las respuestas que circulan están completamente equivocadas.
Abro hilo. 🧵
@santisairi Acordate que tenemos que armar el fondo soberano al estilo Noruega, con transparencia y foco en re invertir en educación. No me falles Sairi