INDIANAPOLIS — The "Puppy Bowl" is bigger than ever in its 20th year!
The three-hour television matchup will feature 131 puppies looking for forever homes as they come from 73 shelters and rescues across 36 states and territories.
"They will hopefully all get adopted, like in past years, by the time the 'Puppy Bowl' is done airing," said Dan Schachner, who is returning for his 13th year as "rufferee" of the big game. "We have special needs dogs, senior dogs, we have our biggest dog ever – Levi the Great Dane, a 3-month-old Great Dane that's 72 pounds – and for balance, we have our smallest dog ever – Sweetpea at 1.7 pounds."
- RELATED: Meet the players of "Puppy Bowl XX"
The original and longest running call-to-adoption television event features inspiring adoption stories as Team Ruff and Team Fluff take the field to win the Wayfair "Lombarky" trophy and find their forever homes.
"I love watching what these dogs can do. They've got athleticism," Schachner said. "We've seen dogs kick field goals, we've seen dogs throw balls — as best as a dog can throw. We've seen dogs, of course, score touchdowns left and right. Excessive celebration is something we're trying to curb, but we also kind of encourage it at the same time."
And there's plenty of firsts to celebrate 20 years of the game, including:
- Four previous "Puppy Bowl" players return to be inducted into the all-new Puppy Bowl Hall of Fame
- Puppies are taking over the show's production by operating the cameras and lighting, directing from the control room, stage managing on the studio floor and coaching the two teams.
- Schachner has a puppy assistant coach, appropriately named Whistle, who helps him call the plays and fumbles.
"Every single one of them has a story that will tug your heartstrings," Schachner said of the puppies competing this year.
Despite popular belief, the "Puppy Bowl" does not air live, and shelters and rescues from across the country submit applications each year to be featured.
"We shoot in advance, so really the casting – I should say the 'draft' – starts in the summertime," Schachner said. "We ask the rescues take a picture of the dog next to a 12 oz. soda can, and we have them send that in. That gives us a gauge for how big or small they are."
"Puppy Bowl XX" airs Sunday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS and truTV and streams simultaneously on Discovery+ and Max.