How to watch the Puppy Bowl 2026 for free: Time, livestream, lineups

The quest for the Lombarky Trophy begins again — it’s time for the 2026 Puppy Bowl!

As is tradition on Super Bowl Sunday, Team Ruff and Team Fluff will go head-to-head in the hours before the big game kicks off.

More than 150 puppies from 71 different shelters are set to play during the event, which also encourages viewers to adopt a puppy like the very ones participating in the Puppy Bowl.

This year’s Puppy Bowl will also shine a light on special needs dogs competing to prove nothing can hold them back, and give a special halftime spotlight to a category of dogs that deserve our love as much as puppies: senior dogs.

Puppy Bowl 2026 time

The 2026 Puppy Bowl is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 8. A pregame show begins at 1 p.m. on Animal Planet.

Where can I watch the Puppy Bowl? How to watch the Puppy Bowl for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Puppy Bowl for free.

DIRECTV is our top pick for watching TV live for free — its five-day free trial includes Animal Planet. When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $34.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-on subscription, you can try a Sling Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to all Sling TV Orange has to offer, including TNT (another network where the Puppy Bowl is airing).

Puppy Bowl 2026 lineup

This year’s adorable list of competitors includes a Boston Terrier named RuPaw, a Siberian Husky/Chihuahua named Benito, an American Stratfordshire Terrier named Miss Coco, and many more precious competitors. For the full Puppy Bowl lineup, check out Discovery’s Puppy Bowl XXII photo gallery.

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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.