American football: Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50

NEW YORK

Denver Broncos have defeated the Carolina Panthers 24 to 10 to win the 50th Super Bowl.

Dubbed the most-watch televised and sporting event in the U.S., the final game of the National Football League (NFL) showcased this season's top-rated defensive team, the Broncos, against the best offensive side, the Panthers, in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Making a strong start to the game, Broncos led the first quarter 10 to nothing. Despite the effective offense of the Panthers, Denver closed the first half 13 to 7.

It was a defensive battle in the second half. Led by Von Miller, the Broncos defense held the Panthers, and brought the Lombardi trophy to Denver for the third time in team history. Miller was chosen the most valuable player (MVP) of the game.

Super Bowl 50 also marked milestones for some members of the Broncos team.

Head coach Gary Kubiak became the only person in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with the same team both as a player and a coach. Kubiak was a player at Denver between 1983 and 1991, and has been head coach of the Broncos since Jan. 2015.

The captain and quarterback of the Broncos, Peyton Manning (40), has become the oldest quarterback in the NFL history to win a Super Bowl. Clinching his 200th victory, he now holds the most career-wins record by a player in the NFL.

Manning, who said farewell to some of the players and coaches on the field, signaled his retirement at the end of this season, but left that question unanswered after Sunday's victory.

Special events

Since it was the 50th anniversary of the event, former MVPs of previous Super Bowl games were introduced on the field before the start.

While six-time Grammy Award winner Lady Gaga's singing of the U.S. national anthem was applauded by some 75,000 people in Levi's Stadium, world renowned artists' performance, such as Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars, was also cheered by fans.

U.S. broadcasting company CBS held its pre-game analysis under the sponsorship of Turkish Airlines, which had commercials before and after the match.

During game time, other internationally known global brands – such as McDonald's, Audi, Hyundai, Coca Cola, Pepsi and Doritos -- paid for commercials, reportedly costing $5 million for 30 seconds -- up from $4.5 million during last year's game.

Benefit to U.S. economy

Super Bowl 50 is expected to break records in the U.S. economy by topping the current milestones for total spending, television advertisement costs and the number of viewers.

According to the U.S.' National Retail Federation (NRF), total spending among the population on food, beverages, television, merchandise and new items is expected to reach $15.5 billion, while this amount was $14.3 billion last year.

A single American fan is estimated to have spent $82.19 on food, merchandise and team apparel, up from $77.88 last year.

Almost 21 million new items are forecast to be sold, along with 8.6 million new televisions, while the NRF anticipated 189 million Americans will have watched this year's game, up from 184 million last year.

In addition, 14.5 million pizzas, 1.3 billion chicken wings, and 1.2 billion liters of alcohol were expected to be consumed in the U.S., according to Technomic, a consulting and research company on the food industry.

Ticket prices skyrocketed

The average price of a Super Bowl 50 ticket has become the highest for a sport event in the U.S. with an average cost of $4,821, according to online ticket marketplace StubHub, surpassing the 45th Super Bowl which had an average cost of $3,649 per ticket.

While the cheapest ticket for Super Bowl 50 was $3,000, the highest was sold at $20,500, according to StubHub.