Bislett Stadium lies on the site of a 19th-century brick works, which was bought by the Municipality of Kristiania (Oslo) in 1898, and turned into a sports field in 1908.

The merchant, speed skater, gymnast and sports organizer Martinus Lørdahl was instrumental in facilitating the construction of the first bleachers, begun in 1917 and completed in 1922 along with the new club house.

Bislett became Norway's main arena for speed skating and track and field in 1940 when the architect Frode Rinnan's new functionalistic stadium was completed, with a capacity of 20,000.

[4] Bislett's career as a speed skating venue ended in 1988, when it was decided that ice production would discontinue, even though the stadium did not meet international requirements for any other sport.

The stadium was quickly becoming run down and even dangerous, but it would take more than decade of debate and at times harsh bickering before the city council decided that Bislett was to be demolished and rebuilt.

Especially the matter of whether or not Bislett would continue to host speed skating events provided tensions between the various parties involved, leaving nostalgics bitterly disappointed when it turned out not to be so.

Speed skating has increasingly become an indoor sport and providing the famous record breaking ice would no longer be possible if the stadium was to be optimized for athletics and football.

Norwegian speed skaters Hjalmar Andersen, Knut Johannesen, Fred Anton Maier and Kay Stenshjemmet have all become European Champions at Bislett.

The European Championships in 1986 proved to be the last major speed skating event at Bislett, as ice production was halted two years later.

Lyn was the last team to reject a deal with the municipality over Bislett, in 2005, and instead they continued to play at Ullevaal, their home ground for the past 80 years.

After several years of financial troubles, Lyn finally accepted an offer to play at Bislett in 2010, but ultimately declared bankruptcy during the season, resigned from the Norwegian league, and were liquidated shortly thereafter.

Although the two top teams in Oslo have declined to use Bislett as their home ground they have still shown some interest in playing there during the winter, in the Scandinavian club tournament known as Royal League.

The final of the rugby league Nordic Cup between Scandinavian nations was played at the stadium, between Norway and Denmark in August 2012.