Puppy Bowl 2016: Lineups For Puppy Bowl XII, Kitten Bowl III Relased For Big Day
Puppy Bowl 2016 is just days away, and the starting lineups have now been revealed. The 2016 Puppy Bowl will take place on Sunday, February 7, giving television viewers an alternative to the Super Bowl. A report from Animal Planet reveals the 49 puppies that will be competing for the title of Most Valuable Puppy this weekend.
Animal Planet is making a whole event out of Puppy Bowl XII, with a tailgate starting at 2:30 p.m. PT/ET on Sunday. The annual Puppy Bowl will then kick off at 3 p.m. PT/ET for animal fans not interested in watching the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos play over on CBS. The intent of this event is to get all the animals involved in the game adopted out to loving families by the end of the day.
As explained by Animal Planet, all the participants in Puppy Bowl 2016 come from shelters around the country. Some of the locations include the Arizona Human Society, Florida Little Dog Rescue, Nevada SPCA, and Stella’s Hope. Forty-four different shelters and rescue organizations helped to provide animals for the event, all in the hopes that they would wind up with good homes by the final whistle.
The Puppy Bowl rosters were also revealed, with the animals split up between #TeamRuff and #TeamFluff. Animal Planet made a big deal out of the starting lineups for the two teams, giving each animal a profile to break down his or her attributes. Included on those “player profiles” are the name, breed, sex, and age of each animal taking part in the event. The shelter where the animal came from is also on the profile page, along with a photo of the adoptable canine or feline.
For dog fans really looking to get involved in the 2016 Puppy Bowl excitement, Animal Planet has also set up a way for people to create fantasy teams. Each team owner gets to select three puppies that they will be rooting for during the big game. Animal Planet has even provided a scorecard to keep track of the touchdowns, field goals, takeaways, tackles, and penalties that each puppy might achieve during the day. It’s an exciting way for fans to keep up with the game and enjoy watching it with the whole family.
The lineups for Kitten Bowl III were also revealed by the Hallmark Channel in preparation for Sunday. Hallmark will air the third annual Kitten Bowl at 12 p.m. PT/ET on Sunday, February 7. It is another television alternative to watching the Super Bowl, giving cat lovers the chance to adopt felines from shelters and rescue facilities across the country. 2016 player profiles have already been revealed, and it includes one kitten nicknamed “The Gipper” who will be playing on Sunday.
Former football player Boomer Esiason and Beth Stern will host the 2016 Kitten Bowl, serving as hosts for the game, while John Sterling and Mary Carillo step in as play-by-play announcers. Every kitten taking part in the game is adoptable, with profiles for every participant posted on an adoption site by the Hallmark Channel. Kitten Bowl III airs a bit earlier in the day on Super Bowl Sunday, giving fans a chance to watch the action before switching to either football or the 2016 Puppy Bowl.
February 7 is a big day for a lot of adoptable cats and dogs, as the hope of Hallmark Channel and Animal Planet is that all the participants have found their forever homes by the end of the day. The intent of having Puppy Bowl XII and Kitten Bowl III isn’t just to get the participants adopted, but to also raise awareness of animals still in shelters all around the country that would love to find a new home.
[Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery Communications]
