Originally designed to be counterprogramming to the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl has continued to grow in size and popularity, as it remains an while continuing to provide an ever-growing platform for animal shelters and the adoptable dogs living in them.

When it first aired in 2005, the Puppy Bowl was intended to compete with the extreme popularity of the Super Bowl in the media by showing viewers groups of a lot of cute puppies wandering the around on a football field. The program was instantly popular and has only continued to grow since, becoming an annual Super Bowl Sunday tradition.

The footage for the Puppy Bowl is shot several months prior to Super Bowl Sunday and takes multiple a couple of days to film in order to give all of the puppies the most screen time possible. as many puppies as possible screen time. The two hours of edited footage is typically shown during the afternoon leading up to the Super Bowl itself.

There are minimal rules to the game, if any. The untrained puppies are allowed to run around the field, lick peanut-butter covered cameras in order to get the cutecutes close-up shots and play with toys. A touchdown is scored if a puppy manages to drag a toy over either one of the finish lines, earning points for either Team Ruff or Team Fluff. Commentators keep viewers updated on everything the puppies are doing and make rulings accordingly.

Because all participating puppies come from animal shelters, the Puppy Bowl and its extensive advertising also ensures that they will find forever homes quickly. Any puppies who have not been adopted once the program begins showing are usually adopted very quickly through Animal Planet and their respective shelters. Despite its increased entertainment value, the primary purpose of the Puppy Bowl remains to find all its participants loving homes.

The 2023 Puppy Bowl will air on Animal Planet at 11 AM Pacific Time, prior to the Super Bowl. The lineups for Team Ruff and Team Fluff can already be viewed online with included pictures of each canine competitor.