How to Build a Football Field Valuation Chart

A football field chart summarizes a valuation by showing the range each method produces as a horizontal floating bar. DCF, comparable companies, and precedent transactions each give a low and a high estimate, and stacking them lets a reader see where the methods overlap. The overlap zone is the defensible value range, and the chart is a staple of pitch books and board decks.

The structure of the chart

Each method becomes one bar that floats between its low and high value. You build this with a stacked horizontal bar chart: an invisible base series equal to the low value, and a visible series equal to the width of the range, High - Low.

So if DCF runs from 80 to 110, the base series is 80 and the visible series is =110-80, which is 30. Setting the base series to no fill makes the visible 30-wide bar appear to float from 80 to 110. Repeat for each valuation method.

Worked example

Three methods give ranges: DCF 80 to 110, comparable companies 90 to 120, and precedent transactions 100 to 135. Build a base column and a width column.

1. Enter each method's low in a Low column and high in a High column.
2. Width for DCF: =110-80 returns 30.
3. Width for comps: =120-90 returns 30.
4. Width for precedents: =135-100 returns 35.
5. Insert a stacked horizontal bar chart on Low and Width, then set the Low series fill to none.
6. The overlapping band, roughly 100 to 110, is where all three methods agree.

Width is =High-Low; the no-fill Low series makes each bar float.

Laying it out for a deck

A football field is built to be presented, so keep the supporting cells tidy and the chart clean before it leaves Excel.

• Keep Low, High, and Width in adjacent columns so the chart links update automatically.
• Add data labels showing the low and high so the slide is readable without the axis.
• Set the value axis minimum near the lowest low so the bars are not crushed against the left edge.
• Mark a vertical line or marker at the current price or offer to anchor the reader.

Pitfalls

The most common mistake is plotting the high value directly instead of the width. If the visible series is 110 rather than 110-80, the bar starts at zero and the floating effect is lost. Always plot High - Low as the visible width on top of the invisible Low base.

Mixing enterprise value ranges with equity value ranges on the same chart misleads the reader, so convert everything to the same basis first. When you paste the chart into a deck, a raw chart paste can carry live links and formatting that break on another machine; export it as a static image so the slide is fixed and portable.