At the time, the club was nicknamed "Los Millonarios" (The Millionaires in Spanish) because of the purchase of forward Carlos Peucelle for whom River had paid a huge amount of money.

[7] El Monumental was built on land reclaimed from the marshy coast of Río de la Plata.

On 25 May 1935, the cornerstone was laid on the Centennial (now Figueroa Alcorta) and Río de la Plata (Udaondo) Avenues.

They obtained a loan of $2,500,000 from the government and on 27 September 1936, construction began under the direction of architects José Aslan and Héctor Ezcurra.

The initial cost of work reached the figure of $4,479,545.80, but was reduced to about 3 million dollars when the committee decided to halt the construction of the north end of the stadium due to a lack of adequate funds.

This required open pit excavation to ensure the stability of the ground, and pumping bilge water from the site.

They witnessed the handing over of an Argentine flag, one from the club, paid for by a group of associates, and then sang the national anthem and the River Plate chant.

After various activities the evening ended with a match between River Plate and Uruguay team Peñarol, with a 3–1 victory for the home squad.

The new construction, the first tier Colonia stand, was financed by proceeds from the mn$10 million transfer of Omar Sivori to Juventus of Italy.

The stadium was remodelled and finally completed to meet the original project after Argentina was awarded the right to host the 1978 World Cup.

River Plate was lent money by the Military Government in charge of the country at the time but they struggled to meet repayments due to the changes of currency, which had a detrimental effect on the team.

San Lorenzo earned the record for highest number of people attending a match for a visiting team in 1982.

At the end of the 1986 and 1996 Copa Libertadores second-leg finals (both against América de Cali), more seats were added and approximately 86,000 spectators were in attendance.

In 1993, in a qualification match for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Argentina lost 5–0 to Colombia, its greatest ever defeat at home.

In December 1987, Sting, former leader of The Police, performed at River Plate, making his debut in Argentina as soloist.

The show was headlined by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and also featured Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour, León Gieco and Charly García.

[12] On 5 October 1990, Eric Clapton played a concert during his Journeyman World Tour in front of a sold-out crowd of 70,000 people.

Over half a year later on 16–17 July 1993, the band played two additional concerts as the final shows of the same tour, marking their last performances with most of their original lineup for over two decades.

In 1993, Michael Jackson performed three sold-out concerts as part of his Dangerous World Tour at the stadium, on 8, 10 and 12 October, for a total audience of 240,000 people.

On 6 October 2001 Eric Clapton performed at the stadium during his Reptile World Tour, selling a total of 35,000 tickets.

[18] In 2003, Shakira played a sold-out concert as part of her Tour of the Mongoose, becoming the first and so far only female Latin artist to sell out River Plate Stadium.

Noel Gallagher and the Argentine public shared an emotional moment, playing "Don't Look Back in Anger".

The 2009 concert was recorded and eventually released as a live six song DVD included on the Sonic Boom three disc package.

The Monsters of Rock festival was held in the stadium in 1994 and 1999 with Kiss, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica, and Sepultura.

The stadium complex also has facilities for tennis, basketball, and other sports, as well as living quarters for young footballers, a theatre hall, a parking lot, museum etc.

It can be accessed by several train and bus lines as it is located within walking distance from the Barrancas de Belgrano transportation hub.