Sentimentality was the theme of Super Bowl XLVII.

Sentiment helped New Orleans land the game over competition from Miami and Phoenix.

The city’s successful recovery from Hurricane Katrina and $185 million renovation of the Superdome led NFL owners to award the game to the Crescent City at the 2009 league meetings in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"The membership heard from three great cities today and had some terrific alternatives," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said. "But I think this is a great statement about the spirit and people of New Orleans and the great relationship the Saints and the NFL have in that community.”

In 2008, the city played host to college football’s national championship game and the NBA All-Star Game, but Super Bowl XLVII was the first Super Bowl played in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

“This is a huge win for New Orleans, but also the entire state of Louisiana,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

When the date for Super Bowl XLVII was originally announced, it raised eyebrows in New Orleans. The game was scheduled right in the middle of Mardi Gras. Local officials adjusted, as usual. The powers that be chose to start the festivities a week early, break for the NFL events, then launch back into crazy Carnival party mode, culminating with Mardi Gras — Fat Tuesday — on Feb. 12.

The game was dubbed the “Har-Bowl,” as it featured two brothers coaching against each other for the first time in Super Bowl history. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh turned the game into a reunion with dozens of family members in attendance.

The 49ers were making their first Super Bowl appearance in 18 years and trying to win their sixth Super Bowl without a loss. They were installed as 4-point favorites largely on the strength of their dominant defense, which ranked second in the NFL in yards allowed and sent of six of its 11 starters to the Pro Bowl. The defensive line featured Justin Smith and edge rusher Aldon Smith, who set a franchise record with 19½ sacks that season.

The Ravens also featured a great defense, led by two future Hall of Famers, linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed, a Destrehan native. Tackle Haloti Ngata and edge rusher Terrell Suggs anchored a stout defensive line. And the Ravens special teams, featuring All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker, and return man extraordinaire, Jacoby Jones, ranked among the best in the league under John Harbaugh, a former special-teams coordinator.

Baltimore had dedicated its season to former owner and founder Art Modell, who died on Sept. 6, 2012, four days before the first regular-season game. The Ravens were making their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. They defeated the New York Giants 31-7 in Super Bowl XXXV.

The week leading up to the game was relatively uneventful, with the Harbaugh brothers’ storyline dominating the pregame coverage.

The party circuit and entertainment scene leading up to the game was bigger and better than ever.

Justin Timberlake held his first major concert in five years at the DirecTV Super Saturday Night, an invitation-only event on Super Bowl eve. Stevie Wonder performed at an outdoor concert. Cee-Lo Green and Kelly Rowland headlined an ESPN party. Rascal Flatts teamed up with Journey for a concert. Solange and DJ Diplo performed at Audi's two private parties. Big Boi of Outkast and Lil Wayne headlined the EA Sports party.

The Maxim party was once again loaded with A-listers like Sofia Vergara, Olivia Munn, David Arquette and Neil Patrick Harris.

Among the raft of celebrities in town for the weekend were Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Michael Strahan, Snoop Dogg, Neil Patrick Harris, Brooklyn Decker, Jenny McCarthy, Chace Crawford and former NFL players Deion Sanders and Warren Moon.

Former Saints head coach Mike Ditka also made an appearance and praised New Orleans.

“It’s the perfect venue for the Super Bowl; I loved it here,” Ditka said. “The people — Come on, guys! — they tolerated me for three years. There’s nothing bad about the city.”

The game was broadcast by CBS and drew an audience of 108 million viewers in the U.S. The game earned a 57.1 Nielsen rating in New Orleans, more than it did in San Francisco and just shy of the 59.1 rating in Baltimore. An international feed was broadcast to 180 countries via NFL Network.

The pregame show featured performance by OneRepublic, Matchbox Twenty and the Southern University band.

American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson and a chorus of students from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, performed “America the Beautiful” as a tribute to the 26 students and staff who were murdered at the school the previous December.

Alicia Keys sang a non-traditional version of the national anthem.

The recent inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013 participated in the coin toss ceremony: Larry Allen, Cris Carter, Curley Culp, Jonathan Ogden, Bill Parcells, Dave Robinson and Warren Sapp.

Once the game kicked off, it was all Baltimore — at least for the first half.

Quarterback Joe Flacco threw touchdown passes of 13, 1 and 56 yards to give the Ravens a shocking 21–3 lead. The 56-yard bomb to New Orleans native Jones came inside the final 2 minutes on a third-and-10 play as Jones beat two 49ers defenders deep and outmaneuvered them into the end zone. The 49ers cut the margin to 21-6 at halftime, but the Ravens were clearly in control.

The vaunted 49ers defense had no answer for Flacco, who completed 13 of 20 passes for 192 and a 135.8 passer rating.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, Colin Kaepernick, was 8 of 13 for 139 yards and an interception for a pedestrian 65.9 passer rating.

The halftime show was headlined by Beyonce and featured a much-anticipated reunion with Destiny’s Child, the group that launched her career. They were backed by her all-female band, her back-up dancers, the Saints dance team and an all-female horn section.

Beyonce took the stage while a speech by Vince Lombardi about “excellence” was played in the background. She performed a medley of her biggest hits, including “Crazy in Love” and “Baby Boy,” then was joined on stage by Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, former members of Destiny's Child, for a rendition of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Beyonce closed the show with “Halo.” The performance was watched by 110 million viewers, according to Nielsen, and generated more than 268,000 tweets per minute, making it the most-tweeted moment in the history of Twitter at the time. The performance received a Primetime Emmy Award later that year.

The crowd was still buzzing from Beyonce’s spectacular show when Jones took the second-half kickoff, found a seam in the middle of the field and burst into the clear at midfield for a 108-yard touchdown return. The stunning play set a Super Bowl record and increased the Ravens’ lead to 28–6.

However, three plays into the next drive, with 13:22 remaining the third quarter, a power outage in the Superdome caused play to be suspended for 34 minutes. The outage was caused by equipment failure near the stadium.

During the delay, 49ers CEO Jed York made light of the situation on Twitter, posting: “There is no conspiracy. I pulled the plug.”

The delay seemed to change the game’s momentum. When play resumed, the 49ers scored 17 unanswered third-quarter points to trim the Ravens' lead to 28–23 and energize their fans in the Dome.

Trailing 34–29 late, the 49ers drove to the Ravens’ 5-yard line in the final minutes but couldn’t punch it in. The Ravens then took an intentional safety in the waning moments of the game to preserve the victory.

“We were ready for the second half,” Kaepernick said. “We knew we had to score to get back in the game. We had good plays, we had bad plays in the red zone.”

Flacco, who completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns, was named MVP. He was the fourth consecutive quarterback to win the award, following Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning.

"Now they're gonna have to talk about Joe Flacco,” Ravens center Matt Birk said. “Joe's a stud. He showed it tonight.”

The victory was the first Super Bowl of John Harbaugh’s career, but it proved bittersweet because it came at the expense of his brother, Jim.

"It's very tough,” Jim Harbaugh said. “It's a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. It's very painful.”

The championship was the second in club history for the Ravens. It was also a fitting way to end the legendary 17-year career of Lewis, who retired afterward.

“How could it end any other way than that?” Lewis said. “And now I get to ride into the sunset with my second ring.”