Report: How to get ‘Saturday Night Live’ tickets and survive the standby line
Fans can obtain “Saturday Night Live” tickets via the show’s standby line or lottery with preparation, patience, and a lot of luck — as we recently experienced firsthand.
“Saturday Night Live,” currently in its 49th season on NBC, broadcasts live from New York. The sketch comedy show performs in front of a studio audience inside Rockefeller Center.
Procuring a coveted seat in Studio 8H during the broadcast is something of an Olympic sport. It’s not impossible, though, and there are a few ways to do so.
Disclaimer: Attractions Magazine did not receive any special access to “SNL.” The story below reflects the same experience anyone can have, detached from press affiliation.
First Things First: Know the Process
You can score tickets to “Saturday Night Live” using two different methods.
The “SNL” Lottery
- Anytime in August: Email NBC (at [email protected]) telling the network why you want to be in the “SNL” audience.
- Weekly as the season progresses: NBC selects winners and notifies them of their guaranteed seat to either the dress rehearsal or the live show that week.
- Saturday night: Show up and enjoy!
The “SNL” Standby Line
- Thursday: Reserve a spot in the standby line online (or simply show up on Friday and join the back of the line behind guests with reserved spots).
- Friday night: NBC distributes standby cards to fill any available seating left over in the audience after seats have been filled by the lottery winners and the cast and crew’s friends and family.
- Saturday night: Show up and hope you get lucky! A standby card does not guarantee entry. You won’t know if you have a seat until just before showtime.
The standby line process requires more effort than the lottery method, but is arguably more controllable on your part. It might just take you a few tries to get the hang of it.
In both cases, tickets are free. Conversely, there is no way to buy your way into the “SNL” audience. NBC does not sell tickets to the show in any fashion.
Fans are welcome to try both methods. Below is a firsthand report of achieving success with the standby line.
SNL Standby Line Tip
Throughout this report, boxes like this will indicate a tip for navigating the process of getting “Saturday Night Live” tickets through the standby line method.
9:55 a.m. Thursday — Prep
The online form to reserve a spot in the “SNL” standby line becomes active at 10 a.m. on Thursday during each show week. Usually the form reaches capacity within seconds.
At 9:55 a.m. on Thursday, I opened the (not yet active) online standby line form on my laptop. On my phone, I pulled up the world clock to monitor the time. As soon as the clock struck 10:00:00, I refreshed the page. It was go time!
10 a.m. Thursday — Complete Online Form
Once the form was active, I selected “live show” and my desired number of tickets.
SNL Standby Line Tip
The first question in the online form asks you to select either the dress rehearsal or the live show. Not sure which to pick? The dress rehearsal is earlier in the evening and lasts a little over two hours. The live show is later (beginning promptly at 11:30 p.m.) and lasts a tight 90 minutes (between dress and air, producers cut sketches based on audience reaction and time constraints, thus the shorter length for the live show).
Then I typed my first name, last name, phone number, and email address. Lastly, I acknowledged the terms of the form and confirmed I’d received a covid vaccination. And that was it!
SNL Standby Line Tip
You may want to have some of your info (like email address or phone number) “copied” so you can “paste” it into the form quickly. Every second counts! Your internet browser might also offer an autofill option.
This all happened in less than a minute. I’ve attempted this step many times. Most often, I’m too slow and the form reaches capacity by the time I submit it. But this time …
12:51 p.m. Thursday — Follow-Up Email Received
After submitting the form at 10 a.m., I immediately received an automated response confirming my submission. It was a baby step, but progress nonetheless. This meant I would receive a spot in line! I just didn’t know the number of my spot yet.
A few hours later, NBC emailed me the number of my spot: 106. Your mileage may vary, but the two times I’ve received a number, NBC sent my email at 12:51 and 1:40 p.m.
SNL Standby Line Tip
According to NBC, Studio 8H contains 285 seats. The first guests seated are cast & crew’s family/friends and lottery winners.
The number NBC emails you indicates your place in a pool of guests waiting on standby (hence the name, standby line) after Studio 8H seats those other guests.
Thursday/Friday — Decision Time and Traveling
In the many times I’ve attempted to fill out the online form (all trying for the live show), I’ve only ever received a number twice. The first time, my number was 274. Since I don’t live in New York — and therefore deciding to hop in line would require a spontaneous travel expenses — that time, I deemed my chances too risky.
The next time, though, my spot was 106. I had a decent chance. Should I go?
SNL Standby Line Tip
If you receive a numbered spot in the standby line and can’t use it, there’s no action needed on your part. You simply just won’t show up on Friday night.
My number was on the fence. It wasn’t a shoe-in, but I had a chance. Even though I was assigned 106 in my email from NBC, my actual place in line would likely be lower than that once I arrived, as not everyone with a number shows up.
The weather forecast looked favorable. I didn’t have any pressing work deadlines that weekend. I had set aside funds in my budget for this opportunity, should it ever arrive. All the stars seemed to align. There was no way to know if everything would come together this way again.
Thursday evening, I made my decision: Let’s do this.
SNL Standby Line Tip
Due to the spontaneous nature of the process, your travel plans need to culminate quickly. If you’re serious about doing this, pre-plan as much as you can in advance. Hotel preference, transportation options … obviously you won’t know all the details, but if you have preliminary choices already decided, you’ll be less stressed when it comes time to hash out the details. You’ll simply be executing a plan rather than formulating one.
6 p.m. Friday — Check In Outside 30 Rock, Form Standby Line
A flight later, I arrived to the big apple. Come 6 p.m. on Friday, I checked in at the standby line by verifying my I.D. with the NBC Pages stationed outside Rockefeller Plaza.
The Pages positioned guests in order as we arrived. They arranged all dress-rehearsal guests first, then structured the live-show guests after that.
The standby lines take place on the sidewalk along 49th Street and the surrounding area. Barricades separate the standby lines from foot traffic. By my spot at #106, the line had snaked onto 6th Avenue. For the next five hours, I sat firmly planted there, just outside of Breads Bakery.
SNL Standby Line Tip
If you have a number for the standby line, you can check in anytime between 6-7 p.m. on Friday. No matter when you arrive within that window, you’ll remain in your predetermined order. At 7:01 p.m., you forfeit your numbered spot in line, and will need to join the back of the line.
7 p.m. Friday — Standby Line Opens to Public
Beginning at 7 p.m., the NBC Pages no longer accepted numbered arrivals. Including the entirety of the dress-rehearsal line and the people ahead of me in the live-show line, I was around the 80th person lined up. Again, there was no scientific way to determine my chances, but this still seemed OK.
SNL Standby Line Tip
If you don’t receive a number in the online form process, you’re still welcome to join the back of the standby line (for either the dress rehearsal or the live show). You may do so anytime between 7 p.m. Friday and 12 a.m. Saturday.
The next step in the process would be receiving a new number from the NBC Pages, at midnight. I can see the dots connecting in your head. “But why,” you might ask me, “did you need to wait five hours if you were already in order in line and that order wasn’t going to change before midnight?” Because … that’s just the way the process works.
Maybe there’s something internally the NBC Pages take care of regarding our standby cards. Maybe the producers simply want us to “earn” our seat (it is free, after all). I don’t know the reason for the wait. I’m just glad it’s not overnight anymore; prior to 2023, the Pages distributed standby cards Saturday at 7 a.m., meaning guests waited outside 13 hours. Especially on a pleasant night in good company, five hours is nothing. Heck, I’ve waited three hours for a random roller coaster. Five hours for a once-in-a-lifetime experience? I think that’s fair.
As I waited, I chatted with other nearby guests. It was fun hearing everyone’s stories: a local student, a couple from Philadelphia, a traveler from Chicago, all from different walks of life and all of whom had not planned on being in this line until 33 hours ago (maximum). We now found ourselves in a little neighborhood of sorts, the commonality among us being we enjoyed comedy, theater, or both (or were perhaps fans of this week’s host and musical guest, Nate Bargatze and Foo Fighters, respectively).
I also came prepared. I brought my headphones (“Rogers: The Musical” on repeat, obviously) and some blankets to sit on. I’d hoped to bring a lawn chair, but I knew I couldn’t fly with one, and the local Target didn’t have any at the time.
SNL Standby Line Tip
NBC allows guests to leave the standby line temporarily to use the restroom. Public facilities are located on the lower level of 30 Rock until 11 p.m. Signage is easy to follow, but the walk may take a few minutes.
12:01 a.m. Saturday — NBC Pages Distribute Standby Cards
Time passed quickly than I anticipated. By midnight, my pod of fellow guests were excited to receive our new numbers and have a better idea of our chances. At 12:01 a.m., the NBC Pages distributed our standby cards, each assigned with a new number. This new number would be our final, ordered place in the standby line on Saturday night.
Mine? #43. Meaning, if there were 43 open seats left after cast family and lottery winners entered Studio 8H, I’d make it. I was still not guaranteed a seat, but this was, as seemed to be a recurring theme, as decent a shot as I could hope for.
Saturday — The Waiting Game
Killing time all day Saturday felt a bit bizarre. I didn’t want to get my hopes up because nothing was guaranteed. At the same time, if I made it inside, tonight would easily be one of the most special experiences of my life. It’s an odd headspace to be in.
I slept in, took a walk around Central Park, and visited the Met. Late afternoon, I refreshened up back at my hotel and made my way to 30 Rock. The big moment was almost here.
If you’re part of the dress rehearsal process, shift the remaining timestamps in this report earlier by about 3.5 hours to get an idea of your flow.
9:15ish p.m. Saturday — Check In at NBC Store Inside 30 Rock
I checked in with the NBC Pages at the NBC Studio Store inside 30 Rock around 9:15 p.m. The retail location is on the main entry floor and easy to find. With the walls lined with “SNL” merch and historic photos of five decades’ worth of iconic television moments, the weight of everything started to settle in. No matter what happened, being in this building was special.
Like the night before, we all lined up in our established order (mine being #43). I reunited with my line neighbors from the night before. We were here! It was getting real.
SNL Standby Line Tip
Stay hydrated. The NBC Studio Store keeps a toasty temperature, and you’ll be standing in there for at least an hour (someone passed out the night I visited). Conversely, don’t drink too many liquids. If you need to use the restroom during the show, you can’t re-enter Studio 8H until the next commercial break.
9:45 p.m. Saturday — Seating
9:45 p.m. was the cut-off time for Saturday arrivals. The dress-rehearsal audience emerged from upstairs and spilled into the NBC Studio Store around 10:15 p.m. I tried to tune out their excited chatter; no spoilers!
Around 10:30 p.m., NBC Pages began filing guests from the standby line into a stairwell in groups of ten. With each wave of people, I simultaneously became more excited and nervous.
A Page called our pod forward. This was it! Except, it wasn’t. We quickly learned each step of the process — every new leg of the journey — was never a guarantee that we’d make it inside. Until we were in an elevator making our way to Studio 8H, we could be turned away.
In the stairwell, we passed through a security checkpoint. We waited here maybe ten more minutes.
Following this, we entered the NBC Lounge. This space is very reminiscent of the pre-show area for Race Through New York starring Jimmy Fallon, an attraction at Universal Studios Florida. That makes sense, because that ride takes place in this very building, 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
I barely had a chance to take in my surroundings in the NBC Lounge when the Pages quickly moved all of us forward, gave each guest a paper bracelet, and ushered us into … the elevator! I couldn’t believe it; neither could any of my line neighbors. We’d made it!!
We felt as if we’d won a football game or something, despite the achievement having nothing to do with any skills of our own, beyond our swiftness at our computer two days prior.
At around 11 p.m., we entered Studio 8H, where the room was already electric with the sound of the jazz band playing onstage as people filed inside. I was instructed to occupy a seat in the far corner on the first row of the elevated bleachers. NBC Pages continued to bring guests inside right up until showtime. There were probably around a dozen or so guests behind me who got seats; meaning, after my #43, the cut-off that night was probably around #55.
11:30 p.m. Saturday — Showtime
Being inside Studio 8H during a “Saturday Night Live” broadcast was surreal, hypnotic, and fascinating. Be on the lookout for another story soon, here on AttractionsMagazine.com, detailing what goes on behind the scenes in the room during “SNL” that you don’t see from home.
1 a.m. Sunday — Exit Through the Gift Shop
Following the broadcast, guests exited — of course —through the gift shop. NBC Pages gave everyone a 10% coupon for any items in the NBC Studio Store. I gladly picked up an “SNL” t-shirt with tonight’s date printed on the back. Many of the items available in the store are also sold online.
And thus concluded my whirlwind of a weekend. I stepped out of 30 Rock and into the night, still glowing with a “I can’t believe that just happened” feeling.
Read NBC’s official rules for the “SNL” lottery and standby line, as well as other shows filmed inside 30 Rock, here.
