Puppy Bowl 2020 date, lineup, channel, roster and live stream

(Image credit: Andy Cross / Contributor)

It's game time, and things are about to get ruff! Puppy Bowl XVI is here, and if you're ready to see some cute dogs (and cats!) run around a field for a few hours, we've got you covered on how to catch a Puppy Bowl 2020 live stream. 

Animal Planet's annual canine celebration is a nice pre-game to the actual Super Bowl, and for many animal lovers, is the true attraction of Super Bowl Sunday. Here's everything you need to know about Puppy Bowl 2020, including its adorable starting lineup of pups as well as how to watch from anywhere in the world. (Looking for the other big game? Be sure to also check out our Super Bowl 2020 live stream guide). 

Puppy Bowl 2020 date, time and channel

The Puppy Bowl 2020 will air on Animal Planet on Sunday, Feb. 2 starting at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT. It will run for two hours, and will feature a kitten halftime show for showcasing some adorably fierce felines.

How to watch the Puppy Bowl 2020 live stream with a VPN

You don't have to be left in the doghouse if you're in a country that doesn't have Animal Planet. If you're on vacation or just don't have the Puppy Bowl in your native country, you might want to consider a VPN, or virtual private network. 

We've evaluated many VPN services, and our top pick is ExpressVPN. It meets the VPN needs of the vast majority of users, offering outstanding compatibility with most devices and impressive connection speeds. It's also affordable at $12.95 per month. (Signing up for longer periods of six months or a year reduces the cost even more.)

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN can access more than 3,000 servers spread out across 160 locations in 94 countries. The service performed reliably in our testing, and we found customer service responsive.

One month of ExpressVPN costs $12.95, but you can lower that to $6.67 a month if you opt for a year of service; ExpressVPN will throw in three additional months for free. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied.

How to watch the Puppy Bowl 2020 live stream without cable

The Puppy Bowl airs on Animal Planet, which is available on a variety of popular cable TV replacement services. You can also watch the game via the Animal Planet Go app (iOS, Android), though you'll have to sign in via your TV provider. 

Here are your best options:

  • FuboTV: A popular service among sports fans, Fubo TV offers Animal Planet in its $59.99-per month Family package.
  • Hulu with Live TV: Animal Planet is available on Hulu's Live TV service, which costs $54.99 a month and also contains Hulu's entire streaming library.
  • YouTube TV: YouTube TV offers 70-plus channels, including Animal Planet, for $49.99 per month.
  • AT&T TV Now: Animal Planet is available on AT&T TV Now's $93-per-month entertainment package, which is a bit pricey. This package offers more than 65 channels, including Cartoon Network, Comedy Central and Discovery.

Puppy Bowl 2020 lineup: Which dogs are competing?

Anise

Anise (Image credit: Animal Planet)

And now for the question on everyone's mind: Which good boys and girls are representing Team Fluff and Team Ruff in Puppy Bowl XVI? As always, the dogs participating in Puppy Bowl 2020 are insanely adorable, and many of them are up for adoption at their local animal rescue. This year's Puppy Bowl will even highlight several special needs dogs, including a three-legged Labrador retriever mix named Ferris and a blind and hearing impaired Shetland Sheepdog mix named Filbert.

Ferris

Ferris (Image credit: Animal Planet)

Other notable Puppy Bowl 2020 starters include Anise (Australian Cattle Dog/Labrador Retriever mix) and Bert (Great Pyrenees/Weimaranar) for Team Fluff, as well as Aspen (Australian Cattle Dog/Cocker Spaniel) and Betty (Bulldog) for team Ruff. 

What about the Kitten Bowl?

While the Puppy Bowl offers up some feline action during its halftime show, we don't blame you for wanting an event filled with nothing but cute cats. Fortunately, the Hallmark Channel delivers just that with two events: The Cat Bowl and Kitten Bowl.

The Cat Bowl airs on Feb. 1 at 11 p.m. ET, while the Kitten Bowl follows the next day on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. ET. So if you can't wait until Sunday at 3 p.m. to get your fill of adorable animals, the Cat Bowl and Kitten Bowl will fill the void. Hallmark Channel is available on most cable replacement services, including Sling TV, FuboTV and AT&T TV Now.

Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.