How to Build and Present a Football Field Valuation Chart (With a Worked Example)

If you've ever flipped through a pitch book or a fairness opinion, you've seen it: a chart full of horizontal bars stacked on top of each other, with a vertical line slicing through the middle. That's the football field, and it's the one slide that pulls an entire valuation together.

It also shows up in interviews constantly. "Walk me through a football field" or "Which methodology usually gives the highest value?" are classic questions, and answering them well signals that you understand valuation as a whole, not just one formula at a time.

In this post, you'll learn exactly what goes into a football field, how to build one step by step with real numbers, and how to present it like someone who's done it before.

What Is a Football Field Chart?

A football field is a floating bar chart that summarizes the valuation ranges produced by different methods. Each bar represents one approach, and its left and right edges show the low and high ends of that approach's range.

The name comes from the look of the chart. The bars line up like yard markers on a field.

Here's what's on it:

• The vertical axis lists each methodology (comps, precedents, DCF, and so on)
• The horizontal axis shows value, usually implied share price for a public company or enterprise value for a private one
• One or more vertical lines mark reference points, like the current share price or a proposed offer price

The point isn't to land on one "correct" number. It's to show where the different methods agree, where they diverge, and what range of value is defensible.

What Goes Into a Football Field

Most football fields include some combination of these bars.

True valuation methodologies

• Trading comparables: what similar public companies are worth today, based on multiples like EV/EBITDA or P/E
• Precedent transactions: what buyers have paid to acquire similar companies
• Discounted cash flow (DCF): the present value of the company's projected free cash flows
• LBO analysis: what a private equity buyer could pay while still hitting its target returns

Reference points (not valuations, but useful context)

• 52-week trading range: the stock's low and high over the past year
• Analyst price targets: the range of targets from equity research analysts covering the stock

That distinction matters. The 52-week range tells you where the stock has traded, not what the company is worth. Bankers include it because boards and investors care about it, but you should never call it a valuation methodology in an interview.

Building a Football Field: A Worked Example

Let's build one from scratch. Meet TargetCo, a public company with these stats:

• LTM EBITDA: $200 million
• Net debt: $500 million
• Diluted shares outstanding: 100 million
• Current share price: $14.00

Quick simplification: in a real model, diluted shares can change slightly with share price because of options (treasury stock method). We'll hold them at 100 million to keep the math clean.

Step 1: Calculate the range for each methodology

The general flow for any EV-based method is always the same:

Multiple × EBITDA = Enterprise Value → minus Net Debt = Equity Value → ÷ Diluted Shares = Implied Share Price

Trading comps (8.0x to 10.0x LTM EBITDA):

• EV: $1,600m to $2,000m
• Equity value: $1,100m to $1,500m
• Implied share price: $11.00 to $15.00

Precedent transactions (9.5x to 12.0x LTM EBITDA):

• EV: $1,900m to $2,400m
• Equity value: $1,400m to $1,900m
• Implied share price: $14.00 to $19.00

DCF (from a sensitivity table with WACC of 8% to 10% and terminal growth of 2% to 3%):

• EV: $1,800m to $2,300m
• Equity value: $1,300m to $1,800m
• Implied share price: $13.00 to $18.00

LBO (purchase prices that deliver a 20% to 25% IRR to a sponsor):

• EV: $1,500m to $1,800m
• Equity value: $1,000m to $1,300m
• Implied share price: $10.00 to $13.00

Reference points:

• 52-week range: $10.00 to $16.00
• Analyst price targets: $13.00 to $17.00

Step 2: Put it all in one summary table

This table is the engine of your chart. Link it directly to your comps, precedents, DCF, and LBO outputs so that when an assumption changes, the chart updates automatically.

Step 3: Choose sensible ranges

This is where judgment comes in, and it's where junior bankers often slip.

• Don't use the full min-to-max of your comps. One outlier trading at 18x will blow your range wide open. Most banks use something like the 25th to 75th percentile or a range centered on the median.
• For the DCF, use the middle of your sensitivity table, not the most extreme corners. A range from the most bearish to the most bullish cell is usually too wide to be useful.
• Stay consistent. If comps use LTM EBITDA, don't mix in NTM multiples for precedents without labeling it clearly.
• Keep everything on the same basis. Every bar should be in implied share price, or every bar should be in enterprise value. Never mix the two.

Building the Chart in Excel

Excel doesn't have a built-in "floating bar" chart, so bankers use a simple trick with a stacked bar chart.

Here's the setup:

1. Create two data columns: the low value, and the spread (high minus low). For trading comps, that's $11.00 and $4.00.
2. Insert a stacked bar chart using both columns.
3. Set the first series (the low value) to "No Fill" with no border. It becomes invisible, which pushes the visible bar out to start at the right spot.
4. Format the second series (the spread) in your bank's colors. That's your floating bar.
5. Reverse the category order on the vertical axis so your bars appear in the same order as your table.
6. Add data labels at both ends of each bar showing the low and high values.
7. Add the vertical reference line for current price or offer price. A common method is adding a scatter series with two points (same x-value, different y-values) and connecting them with a line.

Pro tip: set the horizontal axis minimum and maximum manually. If Excel starts the axis at $0, all your bars get squished into the right side and the chart becomes hard to read.

Presenting the Football Field

A clean chart is only half the job. The other half is telling the story behind it.

Organize the bars logically

There's no single required order, but a common layout is:

• Reference points on top (52-week range, analyst targets)
• Market-based methods next (trading comps, precedents)
• Intrinsic and sponsor methods at the bottom (DCF, LBO)

Some banks visually separate reference points from true valuations with a divider line or lighter shading. That's a nice touch that shows you understand the difference.

Footnote every assumption

Each bar should tell the reader exactly what's driving it. Put the key assumptions right in the label or in a footnote:

• "Trading Comps: 8.0x–10.0x LTM EBITDA of $200m"
• "DCF: 8.0%–10.0% WACC, 2.0%–3.0% terminal growth"

A managing director should be able to glance at the slide and know where every number came from.

Explain what the chart is saying

Looking at TargetCo's football field, here's how you'd walk someone through it:

• Precedents sit highest ($14 to $19) because acquirers pay a control premium to buy a whole company, while comps reflect minority stakes trading day to day.
• The LBO sits lowest ($10 to $13) because a financial buyer is constrained by debt capacity and return targets, and typically can't count on the synergies a strategic buyer might.
• The DCF ($13 to $18) overlaps with both comps and precedents, which gives you some confidence the projections aren't wildly off.
• The current price of $14 sits near the bottom of the DCF and precedent ranges, suggesting the market isn't fully pricing in the company's intrinsic or takeover value.

If a buyer is offering $17.00 per share, you'd point out that the offer sits above the entire trading comps range, toward the upper half of the DCF and precedents, and well above what a financial sponsor could likely pay. That's a story a board can act on.

Don't oversell precision

The football field shows ranges for a reason. Valuation depends on assumptions, and the chart's job is to frame a reasonable zone, not to name one magic number.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Mixing EV and equity value bars on the same chart
• Using outlier-driven ranges that are so wide they say nothing
• Hardcoding numbers instead of linking to your models, so the chart goes stale after one assumption change
• Calling the 52-week range a valuation method
• Forgetting the reference line, which leaves the reader with no anchor for comparison
• Inconsistent time periods, like LTM in one bar and forward estimates in another with no label

Football Field Interview Questions (And How to Answer Them)

"Walk me through a football field."

Keep it structured: "A football field is a summary chart that shows the valuation range from each methodology, typically trading comps, precedent transactions, a DCF, and sometimes an LBO, alongside reference points like the 52-week range and analyst targets. Each bar shows a low and high value, usually as implied share price, and a vertical line marks the current price or offer price. It helps you see where the methods agree and what range of value is defensible."

"Which methodology usually gives the highest valuation?"

Precedent transactions are typically highest because they include a control premium and sometimes reflect synergies. Then add nuance: a DCF can come out highest if the projections are aggressive or the terminal assumptions are generous. "Usually" is the key word.

"Which usually gives the lowest?"

The LBO often sets a floor because sponsors are limited by leverage and their required returns. The 52-week low can also sit at the bottom, but remember it's a reference point, not a valuation.

"How would you use a football field to recommend a price?"

Look for where the ranges overlap and compare that zone to the offer or current price. You'd also weigh which methods are most relevant. For a company with few true comparables, you might lean more on the DCF. For an active M&A sector, precedents might carry more weight.

"Why might the DCF be much higher than trading comps?"

Possible reasons include optimistic management projections, a low discount rate, a high terminal growth rate, or the market simply undervaluing the company relative to its fundamentals. A good answer shows you'd investigate rather than just accept the gap.

The Bottom Line

The football field is where all your valuation work comes together on one page. Build it by calculating a clear, defensible range for each method, keep everything on the same basis, and link it to your models. Then present it by telling the story: which methods sit high or low, why, and what that means for the price on the table.

Practice by building one yourself with made-up numbers like TargetCo's. Once you've done the stacked bar trick and talked through the results out loud a few times, this interview question goes from intimidating to one of your strongest answers.