Down, set, BARK! Before you settle in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, a competition that’s a little more cuddly is heating up. It’s time for “Puppy Bowl XXI!“
Team Ruff and Team Fluff are going nose-to-nose, tails wagging as they battle for the Lombarky Trophy.
How to Watch “Puppy Bowl XXI”
“Puppy Bowl XXI” kicks off on Animal Planet at 2:00 p.m Eastern Time. That’s four-and-a-half hours before Super Bowl LIX kicks off, so no need to miss a minute of either one.
What to Know About “Puppy Bowl XXI”
The canine competition has become as much a part of Super Bowl Sunday as nachos, buffalo wings and over-the-top halftime shows. For the past 20 years, “The Puppy Bowl” has upped the cute quotient in an effort to spread awareness of the millions of pets in the U.S. that need a fur-ever home. This year’s broadcast will feature a record 142 rescue puppies from 80 shelters across 40 states, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. You can find the lineup of participating puppies here.
Puppies vs Pros: How the Audiences Compare
Last year, 12 million people tuned in to watch Team Ruff and Team Fluff duke it out, according to NPR. By comparison, according to Nielsen, last year’s Super Bowl drew ten times that number, with123.7 million viewers. That is the largest TV audience on record.
The Puppy Bowl Has Rules
The Puppy Bowl more or less follows the rules of human football with touchdowns, penalties and even overtime, if necessary. It also features some pun-laden calls unique to this game, including “unnecessary ruffness” and “pass inter-fur-ence.” Rather than a football, pups score touchdowns when they drag a chew toy into the end zone.
The game kicks off with smaller breeds taking the field. By the fourth quarter, larger breeds will be in the lineup.
Unlike the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl isn’t live. According to NPR, this year’s game was shot over the course of five days. And because it was shot a few months ago, some of the puppies featured have already been adopted. Puppy Bowl referee Dan Schachner told People Magazine that typically by the end of the game, all the puppies featured have found a home. “I love the end of Puppy Bowl, because it means that all the dogs have been adopted, and that’s the real truth,” says Schachner “We have a 100% adoption rate each and every year.”
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Puppy Bowl XXI: How to Watch