But without a second bidder for the domestic live matches, the situation is unlikely to change.
For now, the move adds a third bidder to the race for Transatlantic, a major North American reinsurer and a onetime division of the American International Group.
A third bidder, SJ Strategic Investments, withdrew its bid for Moore Medical on Feb 13.
This effect is significantly different from zero and about one and a third bidder on average.
Analysts and investors said Tyson's decision to become the third bidder for IBP -- competing against a private investment group and Smithfield Foods, the nation's largest pork producer -- suggested that the final price for IBP could be even higher than Tyson's offer, which is valued at $26 a share.
Compounding the league's embarrassment, news of the withdrawal of the third bidder for the Coyotes, Ice Edge Holdings, became public in a statement from N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman that was buried in a footnote in court papers filed on Tuesday.
The third bidder for Rangers is Chicago-based Club 9 Sports.
The door prize, a 2005 Ford Mustang, was donated back by the winner and then auctioned and re-donated three times before a fourth bidder kept it, for a total of $390,000.
It also acts as a second bidder when only one train firm pitches for a franchise, to make sure there is a benchmark against which to judge that tender.
A fourth bidder, Charles B. Wang, withdrew last month.
