Puppy Bowl XXII airs Sunday, Feb. 8, at 2 p.m. ET on Animal Planet, with 150 rescue puppies from 72 shelters competing for the Lombarky Trophy before Super Bowl 60 kicks off. The three-hour event drew 12.8 million viewers last year, and the 2026 edition brings new wrinkles that should push those numbers even higher.
Puppy Bowl 2026 Schedule, TV Channels and Streaming Options
The Puppy Combine pregame show starts at 1 p.m. ET, featuring 10 puppies running through practice drills for draft positioning. The main event runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET, giving fans a 90-minute window before Super Bowl 60’s 6:30 p.m. kickoff on NBC.
Puppy Bowl XXII simulcasts across four networks: Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS and truTV. Cord-cutters can stream the event on Max and Discovery+. Steve Levy handles play-by-play while Taylor Rooks provides color commentary, and Dan Schachner returns for his 15th year as the on-field referee.
For West Coast viewers, the broadcast begins at 11 a.m. PT.
What’s New for Puppy Bowl XXII?
Team Fluff enters as defending champions after a 68-66 win over Team Ruff in last year’s finale. Both squads feature dogs with football-inspired names, including Pembroke Welsh Corgi “Chappell Bone,” Beagle mix “Josh Howlin'” and German Shepherd “Devon-tails Smith.”
The biggest addition for 2026 is a first-ever senior dog exhibition at halftime, pitting Team Oldies against Team Goldies. The segment aims to highlight older dogs available for adoption.
Cats will still appear during the broadcast in the Temptations Skybox and specific segments. Buffalo Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir also appears in a special segment sharing his own dog adoption story.
Sprinting to the couch for Puppy Bowl 🏈
Don’t miss #PuppyBowl TODAY at 2p ET | 11a PT on Animal Planet.
📸: Ben Welsh#PuppyBowl #puppy #dog pic.twitter.com/UQldpHC4uM
— Animal Planet (@AnimalPlanet) February 8, 2026
All 150 puppies come from 72 shelters across the United States, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. Best Friends Animal Society is again partnering with the event, waiving adoption fees up to $150 from Feb. 2 through Feb. 9.
The show is prerecorded, meaning many of the competing pups have already found homes by the time viewers tune in.
At the end of the broadcast, one standout earns the BISSELL Most Valuable Puppy (MVP) award, while the Pupularity Playoffs let fans vote on 16 starters for the “Most Pupular” title. Full player profiles and team rosters are available at Discovery.com.
