Overview

The Puppy Bowl is an annual event that airs on Animal Planet the day of the Super Bowl. The event shows dogs playing with toys in a miniature model of a football stadium and is given serious commentary as though it were a real football game.

Background

The first puppy bowl aired on February 6th, 2005, on the day of Super Bowl XXXIX.^[1] The first Puppy Bowl started as a joke, but drew over 5.8 million viewers in its 12-hour broadcast.

The show is presented like a traditional football game. Canned sound-effects of cheering are played while a human acts like a referee during the proceedings. "Penalties" are given to dogs who relieve themselves on the field and break out into fights (dubbed unnecessary "ruffness").

Developments

The popularity of the Puppy Bowl made it a mainstay on Animal Planet programming, and airs before the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday. It's popularity also drew the attention of sponsors. In 2012, the "stadium" was named the Geico Puppy Bowl Stadium and shows ads from major brands like Petco and Subaru. The second iteration of the Puppy Bowl introduced the Kitty Halftime Show, in which kittens go on the field and play with toys and lasers.

The most popular Puppy Bowl, Puppy Bowl X, drew 13.5 million viewers. The show is filmed 3 months in advance over the course of two days, in an effort to showcase as many dogs as possible. In 2015, a "competition" element was added to the broadcast, as teams were dubbed "Team Ruff" and "Team Fluff," wearing different-colored bandanas to signify the difference. Usually all puppies which appear in the game are adopted by the game's end.^[2]

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