Many audience members arrive early on the day of a taping, and often camp out the night before to attend. Most have already received tickets for that day 's show, although some hope to get same - day tickets. Audience members are then given the iconic name tags with a temporary identification number, which is also written on the person 's ticket. A Social Security Number (or some national I.D. number for non-U.S. audience members) is also required to be submitted. Audience members are eventually brought through in groups of twelve for brief interviews with the production staff. Contrary to popular belief, contestant names are not chosen at random; rather, the interviews determine possible selections for the nine contestants per taping from among the pool of approximately 325 audience members. Since 1988, the minimum age for audience members has been 18; prior to 1988, teenagers and children as young as 12 were present in the audience. With few exceptions, anyone at least 18 years old who attends a taping of the show has the potential to become a contestant. Those ineligible include current candidates for political office, employees of CBS Corporation or its affiliates, RTL Group or any firm involved in offering prizes for the show. Contestants who have appeared on a different game show within the previous year or either two other game shows or any version of The Price Is Right itself within the past ten years are also ineligible. The show 's staff alerts potential contestants -- in person, on the show 's website and on the tickets themselves -- to dress in "street clothes '' and not to wear costumes, such as those used to attract attention on Let 's Make a Deal, another show that featured contestants selected from the audience. Those who have attended tapings in June 2008 noted that producers disallowed audience members from wearing fake eyeglasses designed to look similar to those worn by Carey, a restriction that has since been relaxed. Instead, contestants will often wear shirts with hand - decorated slogans. Members of the Armed Forces are often in uniform. Cell phones, tape recorders, backpacks, price lists and portable electronic devices are not allowed in the studio. Prospective contestants obtain tickets by contacting a third - party ticketing operator via the show 's website, which is promoted on - air during the broadcast. Prior to 2011, ticketing was directly through CBS, originally via mail, with online ticket access added in 2005. The mail practice ended after CBS began outsourcing ticketing to the third - party operator.
how big is the price is right audience
approximately 325