Tulane Stadium was the site of Super Bowls IV, VI, and IX; while the Louisiana Superdome previously hosted XII, XV, and XX.

The bidding cities included: Anaheim, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, and Tempe.

Also new to the team was rookie kicker David Treadwell, who made the Pro Bowl with an 81.8% field goal percentage and ranked third in the NFL with 120 points.

Together with veteran defensive backs Dennis Smith, Wymon Henderson, and Tyrone Braxton, the Broncos' secondary combined for 14 interceptions.

However, quarterback John Elway played inconsistently during the regular season, throwing just as many interceptions as touchdowns (18) and recording only a 73.7 passer rating.

This was the third time in the last four years that both teams faced each other for the AFC Championship, and the previous two resulted in two of the most famous games in NFL Lore: The Drive and The Fumble.

However, Elway destroyed any chance of a Browns comeback by leading the Broncos 80 yards and scoring with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Winder on the first drive of the 4th quarter.

Then in the fourth quarter, San Francisco scored two more touchdowns to put the game away: a 53-yard interception return by Lott and a 4-yard run by Craig.

[10] Although Elway's performance in the AFC Championship Game was widely considered his best ever, many sports writers and fans believed that the Broncos' best effort would not be good enough to beat the 49ers.

Montana came into this game with a 7–0 record as a starting quarterback at the Superdome due to the 49ers' dominance of their then-NFC West rival New Orleans Saints.

Brent Musburger hosted all of The Super Bowl Today pregame (2 hours), halftime, and postgame events with help from his NFL Today co-hosts Irv Cross, Dick Butkus, and Will McDonough, along with game analysts Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler, and Dan Fouts, and then-Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka.

Also contributing to the broadcast coverage were Lesley Visser; a satirical piece on instant replay by Sports Illustrated writer Curry Kirkpatrick, Bernard Goldberg of CBS' 48 Hours and a feature segment of behind-the-scenes video recorded by Denver Broncos receiver Mark Jackson showing the Broncos' preparation for the Super Bowl.

Several weeks after the Super Bowl, a management change at CBS resulted in the firing of Brent Musburger; his last event for the network was the call of the 1990 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game on April 2.

The last use of the actual theme was for the 1991 season's NFC Championship Game, while a remixed version was used for Super Bowl XXVI's pregame show.

Locally, Super Bowl XXIV was broadcast by KGO-AM in San Francisco with Joe Starkey and Wayne Walker and by KOA-AM in Denver with Larry Zimmer and Jim Turner (Zimmer was moved from his normal position as a color commentator when the Broncos' regular play-by-play voice, Bob Martin, became seriously ill the day before the game; eventually losing his battle with cancer just under a month after the game).

The coin toss ceremony featured the recent inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: defensive back Mel Blount, quarterback Terry Bradshaw, offensive lineman Art Shell, and safety Willie Wood.

Bradshaw, not to be outdone, joined the ceremonies on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Super Bowl IX, which had been played at Tulane Stadium and saw the Pittsburgh Steelers win their first world championship.

The show featured performances by clarinetist Pete Fountain, fiddle player Doug Kershaw, and singer Irma Thomas – all Louisiana natives.

The San Francisco defense also limited the Broncos to 167 yards, 12 first downs, and 20:29 time of possession, while recording six sacks and forcing four turnovers.

The Broncos responded with a 49-yard drive, mainly on plays by running back Bobby Humphrey, who rushed 4 times for 22 yards and caught a 27-yard shovel pass, quarterback John Elway's longest completion of the game.

The drive stalled at the San Francisco 25-yard line, forcing Denver to settle for kicker David Treadwell's 42-yard field goal to cut their deficit to 7–3.

Denver's defense forced a three-and-out on San Francisco's next possession, and wide receiver Vance Johnson gave his team good field position with a 7-yard return to the Broncos' 49-yard line.

The 49ers then reached the Broncos 10 on a 22-yard reception by Rice and scored on Montana's 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Jones two plays later.

Kicker Mike Cofer missed the extra point attempt wide right, keeping the score at 13–3, but it turned out to be the only miscue the 49ers would make for the entire game.

In just 5 plays and over a minute, they scored their fourth touchdown of the game on a 38-yard completion from Montana to Rice, increasing their lead to 27–3 to end the half.

Elway's 13-yard completion to Johnson, a 34-yard run by Humphrey, and a pass interference penalty on 49ers linebacker Bill Romanowski moved the ball to the San Francisco 1-yard line.

After an offsides penalty on linebacker Antonio Goss, cornerback Don Griffin strip-sacked Elway, and Stubbs returned the fumble 15 yards to Denver's 1-yard line before he was tackled by running back Steve Sewell and center Keith Kartz.

San Francisco, now comfortable with their lead, but still with nearly an entire quarter left to play, had Steve Young fill in for Montana for the remainder of the game.

While they returned to the playoffs in 1991, the Broncos failed to make the Super Bowl after losing the AFC Championship Game to the Buffalo Bills.

They eventually returned to success as Elway led the team to an NFL-best 13–3 record in 1996, only to lose their first playoff game, against the Jacksonville Jaguars.