The Panthers finished the regular season with a 15–1 record, racking up the league's top offense, and quarterback Cam Newton was named the NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP).

The team's 43–8 loss in Super Bowl XLVIII two years earlier, despite holding the regular season's top offense, resulted in Elway signing defensive end DeMarcus Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib, safety T. J.

He set the NFL's all-time record for career passing yards in this game, but after throwing four interceptions, he was benched in favor of backup quarterback Brock Osweiler, who took over as the starter for most of the remainder of the regular season.

With the defense carrying the team despite the issues with the offense,[35] the Broncos finished the regular season with a 12–4 record and earned home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

Osweiler threw for 1,967 yards and put up a better TD:INT ratio (10 touchdowns to six interceptions) for a higher rating of 86.4, but remained benched during the postseason in favor of Manning.

Carolina suffered a major setback when Thomas Davis, an 11-year veteran who had already overcome three ACL tears in his career, went down with a broken arm in the NFC Championship Game.

Peyton Manning reached his fourth Super Bowl, with appearances under as many head coaches (Tony Dungy, Jim Caldwell, John Fox, and Gary Kubiak).

The previous record was held by John Elway, who led the Broncos to victory in Super Bowl XXXIII at age 38 and is currently Denver's Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager.

[59] In addition, "Super Bowl City" opened on January 30 at Justin Herman Plaza on The Embarcadero, which featured exhibits showcasing the culture of the Bay Area.

[76][77] CBS's lead broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms called the contest, with Tracy Wolfson and Evan Washburn on the sidelines.

CBS introduced new features during the telecast, including pylon cameras and microphones, and Intel freeD instant replay technology[79] (branded on-air as EyeVision 360, as a successor to a previous "EyeVision" employed at Super Bowl XXXV[80])—using an array of 36 5K resolution cameras along the upper deck that were used to provide 360-degree views of plays and "bullet time" effects, and the debut of a major re-branding of the CBS Sports division, including a new logo and on-air graphics.

The production utilized CBS's video, but with Spanish-language graphics provided by ESPN, and its Monday Night Football commentary crew of Alvaro Martin, Raul Allegre, and sideline reporter John Sutcliffe.

[83] As opposed to broadcasts of primetime series, CBS broadcast special episodes of its late-night talk shows as its lead-out programs for Super Bowl 50, beginning with a special live episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert following the game, with a sketch featuring a pre-recorded appearance by Barack Obama, and guests Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, and Megyn Kelly.

[95] This would be the final year in a multi-year contract with Anheuser-Busch InBev that allowed the beer manufacturer to air multiple advertisements during the game at a steep discount.

[97] First-time advertisers at Super Bowl 50 included Amazon.com, Colgate toothpaste, Death Wish Coffee (who beat 10 other small businesses in a contest held by Intuit, who paid for the ad time as a prize),[98][99] LG Electronics, Marmot, Nintendo (promoting the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise), PayPal, and SoFi.

[119] Westwood One carried the game throughout North America, with Kevin Harlan as play-by-play announcer, Boomer Esiason and Dan Fouts as color analysts, and James Lofton and Mark Malone as sideline reporters.

As in previous years, the BBC aired its own commercial-free British English broadcast, with Greg Brady, Darren Fletcher and Rocky Boiman on commentary.

Lady Gaga (accompanied by Alex Smith on piano) sang the national anthem, while Marlee Matlin simultaneously performed an American Sign Language (ASL) version of it.

[125] On January 7, 2016, Pepsi confirmed to the Associated Press that Beyoncé, who headlined the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show and collaborated with Coldplay on the single "Hymn for the Weekend" (which was removed from the setlist before the game), would be making an appearance.

Then after an incompletion, linebacker Thomas Davis tackled Anderson for a 1-yard gain on third down, forcing the Broncos to settle for a 3–0 lead on a 34-yard field goal by kicker Brandon McManus.

After each team punted, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton appeared to complete a 24-yard pass to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, but the call was ruled an incompletion and upheld after a replay challenge.

[128] Two plays later, on 3rd-and-10 from the Carolina 15-yard line, linebacker Von Miller strip-sacked Newton, and defensive tackle Malik Jackson recovered the ball in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game, giving Denver a 10–0 lead.

Anderson then picked up the first down, but this was nullified by a holding penalty against guard Louis Vasquez, so McManus kicked a 33-yard field goal to increase the Broncos' lead to 13–7.

On Carolina's next possession, fullback Mike Tolbert fumbled the ball while being tackled by safety Darian Stewart, with linebacker Danny Trevathan making the recovery on the Denver 40-yard line.

After a punt by the Broncos, Carolina reached the Denver 45-yard line, but with 11 seconds left and no timeouts, Newton was sacked by linebacker DeMarcus Ware to end the first half.

However, the Broncos' defense halted the drive on the 26-yard line, and it ended with no points when kicker Graham Gano hit the right upright on a 44-yard field goal attempt.

After the miss, Manning completed a pair of passes to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders for gains of 25 and 22 yards, setting up McManus's 33-yard field goal that increased the Broncos' lead to 16–7.

A 16-yard reception by wide receiver Devin Funchess and a 12-yard run by Stewart then set up Gano's 39-yard field goal, cutting the Panthers' deficit to one score at 16–10.

On the next play, Miller strip-sacked Newton for the second time in the game, and after several players dove for the ball, it took a long bounce backwards and was recovered by Ward, who returned it 5 yards to the Carolina 4-yard line, setting up 1st-and-goal for the Broncos.

Then Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and Manning completed a pass to wide receiver Bennie Fowler for a two-point conversion, giving the Broncos a 24–10 lead with 3:08 left and essentially putting the game away.