The Puppy Bowl is going on 10 years strong this upcoming Super Bowl Sunday. Everybody who has watched knows there’s nothing cuter than a bunch of puppies running around their own football filled with toys. Millions of animal lovers have passed on watching the big game in the past to watch this adorable alternative. With all the playing, barking and chewing, it’s hard to contain yourself.
Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl will feature 66 puppies this year, with 49 of their crew members on the job during the event. There will be a “ruffaree,” Dan Schachner, who manages the puppy chaos by calling fouls for things like “excessive cuteness.” There will even be a kitty-filled halftime for those who are “team cat.” The power of puppies will have viewers more into the fluffy tackles and slobbery water bowl cam than they ever would be for the actual football game.
CNN reports the top reasons you won’t want to miss this puppy filled day. Last year’s Puppy Bowl had an average of 2.6 million viewers and when the power went out during the Super Bowl game, 1.1 million viewers changed the channel to catch up on the cuteness. There will be 36 puppies in the starting lineup and all of the puppies will be between 12 and 18 weeks old. The cool thing about the Puppy Bowl is adoption agencies, 37 to be exact, provide these puppy players. Shelters and pet rescues use this day to raise money for homeless animals.
The Puppy Bowl may be all about the pups, but a few other animals will be making appearances. Three guinea pigs will be watching the puppy game from a blimp and 30 kittens will be performing what they call a “domino topple” during the half time show. Meep the Bird has a Twitter account, which has almost 26,000 followers. This specific bird is the social media correspondent and will, ironically, be tweeting live during the game.
Apparently, there will be a few new surprises this year during the show. The Washington Post reports that since it’s reached its 10-year anniversary, there could be some fun new additions. Cheerleading penguins, Keyboard Cat, a live Times Square experience, and a kitten in a parachute are rumored to be taking place. Popular commercial featuring Keyboard Cat was first posted on YouTube in 2007 and had more than 34 million views. Fans of this piano-playing cat will be able to enjoy a new version during a performance at this year’s Puppy Bowl.
Two other channels have decided to make some competition this year. The Hallmark Channel will be airing its Kitten Bowl and Nat Geo Wild will be airing a Fish Bowl.
Got your own pup at home? Instagram a selfie of you and your fluffy friend with the hashtag #puppybowl and you might find yourself and your pup on TV!
The “Puppy Bowl X” will be airing at 3 p.m. Feb. 2 and will run for two hours, even though 103 total hours of footage have been shot. This way, you’re able to catch some of the fluffy fun before the actual game even starts! It will be replayed six times throughout the day, making sure you don’t miss out on any of the cuteness. Now be honest, will you be watching the Super Bowl or the Puppy Bowl this year?