Dog o' Day
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Puppy Bowl XV bringing cuteness to Super Bowl Sunday

By Wesley Coburn

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 07: Attendees cuddle with puppies from a local rescue, Paw Works, who are on hand to promote Animal Planet?s ?Puppy Bowl XII" during the Discovery Communications TCA Winter 2016 at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on January 7, 2016 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery Communications)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 07: Attendees cuddle with puppies from a local rescue, Paw Works, who are on hand to promote Animal Planet?s ?Puppy Bowl XII" during the Discovery Communications TCA Winter 2016 at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on January 7, 2016 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery Communications) /
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Puppy Bowl XV will capture the nation’s attention at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 3.

While millions across the nation (and the world) will watch Super Bowl LIII (53) on Sunday, February 3, a large number of those viewers will be watching Puppy Bowl XV (15) earlier that afternoon on Animal Planet.

Essentially, it’s puppies playing in a carpeted room for two days, but with the magic of scriptwriting, clever editing, and a huge team of crew and volunteers, it turns into one of the biggest spectacles of the year for the network, and plays out as a semi-serious satire of the actual football game that night to raise awareness for shelter adoptions.

(For more on the history of the event, see our history of the special right here).

As always, Team Fluff (yellow bandannas) will take on Team Ruff (green bandannas) in GEICO Stadium, and the teams will be playing for possession of the Chewy.com Lombarky Trophy. Team Fluff pulled out the victory at the last second in Puppy Bowl XIV, winning by a 52-47 score.

Over 50 animal shelters and rescue organizations from 20 states and Costa Rica were involved in the selection process of the puppies making the rosters, all of whom had been adopted shortly after filming completed in October.

Dan Schachner will serve as rufferee for the eighth year in a row, joined as one of the only humans on the broadcast by sideline reporter Jill Rappaport, who will be doing the “Pup Close and Personal” profile segments.

Shirley the sloth will serve as Dan’s assistant rufferee again this year, while Rappaport’s “Pup Close and Personal” segments will feature Olympic skiier Gus Kenworthy pumping up a Pit Bull puppy named Sierra from Muddy Paws Rescue before the big game. Another will feature Dan as he goes to Puerto Rico’s Dead Dog Beach and helps The Sato Project rescue and rehabilitate puppies before bringing them to the US (this process was how 13 Reasons Why actress Amy Hargreaves got her dog Fred).

There will also be a visit to Territorio De Zaguates, a rescue facility in Costa Rica featured in an episode of the Netflix documentary series Dogs. A Chihuahua mix named Melody will visit Graceland with the Memphis Humane Society, and Flo the Chihuahua mix visits San Diego’s Del Mar Dog Beach thanks to the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

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