[17] The VTB Arena's initial concept was drawn by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, who does designs mainly for buildings in Russia and Germany.

His vision of comprising both a football stadium and an ice hockey arena inside the bowl of the former Dynamo Stadion won the authorities' approval.

Other architects who submitted their projects for tender, but lost out on the final bid, included Perkins Eastman, Populous, and Gerkan, Marg and Partners.

On 27 December 2017, the first event was officially confirmed for the stadium, a concert by Imagine Dragons on 29 August 2018 as part of their Evolve World Tour.

[citation needed] The stadium received official permit for use on 27 November 2018 and the first event booked was a figure skating adaptation of the "Swan Lake" by Evgeni Plushenko on 20 December 2018.

The concerts booked for 2021 included shows by Aerosmith, Bi-2, and Twenty One Pilots at the outdoor stadium and Powerwolf, LSP, Kasta, Kino, Aria, Artik & Asti, Enrique Iglesias, Korn, Diana Arbenina, and Pavel Volya at the indoor arena.

[22] However, on 28 February 2019, the Russian Premier League announced that its inspectors did not find the pitch acceptable for play, and the derby was moved to a backup stadium.

[25] The VTB Arena's new football stadium was included in the successful Russian bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.