Whether you’re Team Ruff or Team Fluff, we can all agree that the Puppy Bowl is the most adorable show of the year.
Puppy Bowl XXI is returning to television for its annual show ahead of Super Bowl 2025, where returning champions Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. 9.
But there’s another big game to watch — and it involves the cutest puppies who are all adoptable.
The Post spoke to Dan Schachner, the referee of this year’s game, who revealed several behind-the-scenes secrets of the playful competition, including what happens when the pups from Team Ruff and Team Fluff have accidents on the field — which, he said, is inevitable.
“How we deal with it — because again, we’re trying to show all sides of dogs — is we scoop it up, clean it up as quickly as possible,” Schachner explained earlier this week. “We have a team that’s almost like a NASCAR pit crew that comes in and just quickly scoops it up. You wouldn’t know it was there after a minute, and we resume play as quickly as possible.
“But they are untrained dogs and they will do their business,” he pointed out. “And we just try to move on as much as we can.”
Puppy Bowl is returning for its 21st year with more puppies than ever before.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Puppy Bowl.
What is the Puppy Bowl?
Think of the Super Bowl but with puppies. Unlike the football game, there won’t be formations or flags on the play; however, there will be tons of cuteness in what can only be described as unorganized chaos.
The goal of Puppy Bowl is to raise awareness of shelter dogs and money for rescue facilities across the country while highlighting adoptable pups and other pets.
When is the Puppy Bowl?
Puppy Bowl XXI will take place on Sunday, Feb. 9, before Super Bowl LIX.
How to watch Puppy Bowl 2025 on TV
Puppy Bowl will be broadcasted on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS and truTV. To learn how to stream, keep scrolling.
How to stream the Puppy Bowl for free
Puppy Bowl XXI is available to stream on Max, Discovery+, DirecTV Stream and Philo. All of these services offer free trials and include at least one of the channels broadcasting the Puppy Bowl.
What time is the Puppy Bowl?
The dogs will participate in a pregame show before the big game.
The Puppy Combine pregame show will feature hosts on Animal Planet, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. The actual Puppy Bowl — a k a the big game — begins at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.
How long is Puppy Bowl?
The pregame show will last one hour, but the main event will run for three hours before the Super Bowl starts.
How many dogs will participate?
The competition promises to be the “puppiest” Puppy Bowl ever, with 142 rescue dogs trying to score “goals” with sports-themed toys for their team. This year’s show will feature more pups than ever before, including 11 special needs dogs.
The puppies come from 80 shelters across 36 states, and the best part is they are all adoptable.
Meet the dogs
The puppies participating in this year’s event are featured on Discovery’s website. Fans can vote for their favorite starting lineup player ahead of the game. The winner will be crowned the “Most Pupular” pup in the competition, and many believe Maxx, a three-legged Doberman pinscher, is a frontrunner to win it all.
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