It's officially official: The Seattle Kraken are now the NHL's 32nd franchise after making their final $650 million expansion payment to the league this past weekend.

Why it matters: The Kraken are free to make trades and sign players ahead of their debut next season, and they will now attend league meetings, rather than observing from a distance.

• Seattle can also start engaging teams about potential "side deals," similar to the 2017 deal the Golden Knights were able to swing with the Penguins for Marc-André Fleury.
• "Having another team does more than offer the NHL an even number of clubs," writes The Athletic's Ryan Clark (subscription). "It also offers executives around the league another trade partner ... that has no salary cap commitments."

What they're saying: "I think a lot of that will come as we get closer to the expansion draft," Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke tells Axios. "But it's cool to be here in early May and know that we could do some wheeling and dealing today if we wanted."

What's next: The expansion draft will take place on July 21, with the Kraken selecting one player from each team excluding the Golden Knights (14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies).

• Teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goalie.
• They have until July 17 to submit their protection lists, and Seattle will have four days to examine them before finalizing their picks.

The big picture: The Kraken's launch comes at a unique time, to say the least. On one hand, they're set to debut on the heels of a global pandemic, with fans clamoring for live events. On the other hand, they've had to build a sports franchise — and a brand-new arena — in the thick of it.

• "It's hard to see your city going through something like this, especially when you've committed to being community leaders like we have. So it's been heartbreaking, but it's also stirred our souls and given us opportunities to help," says Leiweke.
• "One thing we've learned through this is that big ideas sustain themselves even through the toughest of times. Holding a 44-million-pound roof in place while building a new arena underneath is a big idea ... Bringing the NHL to Seattle is a big idea ... and our fans have kept the faith."
• "It's been amazing to see the community and corporate sponsors rally around us, and I think our unusual start and the amazing support we've received will forever be a part of the soul of this team."
• "Man, did we hit some speed bumps ... But at the end of the day, we're right on track to open Climate Pledge Arena in October and take the ice for the first time."

🎥 Watch: First seats installed at Climate Pledge Arena (YouTube)

MLB pitchers are throwing more wild pitches and hitting more batters this season than at any other time in the modern era, Jeff writes.

• The seven highest wild-pitch rates since 1891 have come in the last seven seasons, including new modern records in each of the last two.
• Four of the 10 highest hit-batter rates have come in the last four years, with the other six all from 1900 or earlier. The current rate (0.48 per team game) is the highest ever.

The big picture: Upper-90s fastballs have recently transformed from anomalous to standard, so teams with hard-throwing prospects are more willing than ever to call them up and see what they've got.

• From 2010 to 2014, an average of 137 pitchers made their MLB debut each season. From 2015 to 2019, that number jumped to 164.
• In just 60 games last year, 139 pitchers debuted, and this year, there have already been 45 debuts barely one-sixth of the way through the season.

What they're saying: As you might imagine, speed and control don't go hand-in-hand, particularly for untested arms. A lot of these youngsters are in a trial by fire, and the results aren't always pretty.

• "All these guys throw 95-100 and half of them don't know where it's going," Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman said last week in a radio interview.
• "A couple years ago, these guys would be in Double-A or Triple-A for another year trying to learn how to pitch, but these teams just call them up to see if they can kinda hit lightning in a bottle."

The NFL's addition of a 17th regular-season game does more than add an 18th week to an already packed schedule — it provides an opportunity to expand the International Series, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes.

The backdrop: Every year since 2007 (minus 2020), the NFL has played at least one game in London in an attempt to grow the league's global footprint; in 2016, Mexico City was added as a host city.

• The reception has been great, with 28 London games averaging ~81,000 fans and three Mexico City games averaging ~77,000 (2019 NFL average: ~67,000).
• Growth doesn't stop at high attendance, either. The NFL Academy, a development program for teenagers, opened in London in 2019, and football has become Mexico's second-most popular sport.

Wild stat ... Of the 28 games played in London, zero have featured two teams with winning records. It's one of the most improbable streaks in sports.

The state of play: London will continue serving as the NFL's primary international partner, with Tottenham's new dual-purpose stadium hosting at least two games a year for the next decade. But expansion should be imminent.

• Teams will reportedly be required to "host" at least one international game every eight years, meaning a minimum of four games abroad each season.
• And they won't just be in London and Mexico City, as the NFL has its sights on Canada, Germany and Brazil, among other places.
• The operators of Montreal's Olympic Stadium and Vancouver's B.C. Place have both already said they'll throw their hats in the ring.

The bottom line: Adding a 17th game was, of course, about TV money. But it has also provided the NFL with a lot more flexibility to grow the game internationally — and all signs point to Europe, and beyond.

For all the attention the NBA's MVP battle has gotten, Coach of the Year may be the most compelling race as the season winds down, Jeff writes.

The candidates: You could easily make the case for at least a third of the league's coaches, but we'll stick with the three betting favorites, via PointsBet:

• Monty Williams, Suns (-140): The Suns' 8-0 run at Disney World clearly wasn't a mirage. Now, the man whose stirring, post-bubble speech had everyone rooting for Phoenix, has his team — now led by Chris Paul — in the hunt for the NBA's No. 1 overall seed.
• Tom Thibodeau, Knicks (+150): Thibs won this award in 2011 after his first year with the Bulls. He could do it again in his first year with the Knicks, who just secured their first winning season since 2013.
• Quin Snyder, Jazz (+250): This will be fifth straight season that the former G League coach has led the Jazz to the playoffs, but this is his finest work yet. Utah takes, and makes, more threes than any other team, as Snyder has seemingly left the green light on all year.

BRONX, N.Y. — Yankees fans taunted the Astros all night long in Houston's first trip to the Bronx since the sign-stealing scandal, which New York fans believe may have cost them the 2017 World Series.

• Reminder: A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora are back managing MLB clubs, and Nick Castellanos received a longer suspension for playing baseball with passion than any player on the Astros did for cheating.

MANCHESTER, England — Two Riyad Mahrez goals sent Manchester City to its first-ever Champions League final, advancing past Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on aggregate.

• Today, 3pm ET: Chelsea (tied 1-1) vs. Real Madrid

Correction: Yesterday, I mistakenly stated that PSG was a founding member of the failed Super League. My apologies to Neymar and friends.

TURIN, Italy — Tuesday marked the 72nd anniversary of the Superga air disaster, the tragic plane crash that killed the entire Grande Torino soccer club, whose players were the backbone of the Italian national team.

• Go deeper: The plane crash that killed Serie A's champions (BBC)

🏒 Wilson fallout: The Rangers have called for the dismissal of the NHL's director of player safety after Capitals winger Tom Wilson was not suspended for two violent incidents on Monday.

🏈 Multi-sport athletes: 86% of the 259 players selected in this year's NFL draft competed in multiple high school sports. Track and field was the most popular second sport (67%), followed by basketball (39%).

🇨🇦 Speaking of drafts: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats took former Boston College TE Jake Burt, a Saskatchewan native, with the No. 1 pick in Tuesday night's Canadian Football League draft.

🏀 Farewell, Jim: Longtime Bucks announcer Jim Paschke is retiring at the end of the season, his 35th with the team. Here's Jim and Giannis Antetokounmpo breaking the news in a heartwarming video.

📚 Good read: John Skipper's and Dan Le Batard's ESPN exits led to a friendship — and a new media challenger (Ben Strauss, WashPost)

48 years ago today, Secretariat, jockeyed by Ron Turcotte, won the 99th Kentucky Derby (watch the race).

Why it matters: Secretariat — one of 13 horses to win the Triple Crown — is considered the greatest racehorse ever, and his winning time at Churchill Downs (1:59.40) remains the Derby record.

• But that's not all: His times at the Preakness (1:53) and Belmont (2:24) are also records, despite the races covering three different distances.

By the numbers: At the '73 Derby, Secretariat ran each of the five quarter-miles faster than the last one: 25.2 seconds, 24, 23.8, 23.4, and 23.

"He started in last place, which he tended to do. ... And all of a sudden there was this ... disruption in the corner of your eye, in your peripheral vision. And then before you could make out what it was, here Secretariat came. ... No one had ever seen anything run like that. It was like he was some other animal out there."

The bottom line: Secretariat was simply built different, and not just in a clichéd way — his heart was literally twice the average size.

"The heart of the average horse weighs about nine pounds. This was almost twice the average size, and a third larger than any equine heart I'd ever seen. And it wasn't pathologically enlarged. All the chambers and the valves were normal. It was just larger."

A checkers match nearly triggered a diplomatic incident after a Russian player's flag was removed during the Checkers World Championship in Warsaw, Poland.

The backdrop: The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) banned Russian athletes from competing under their national flag at major international events until December 2022.

• Russia will not be able to use its name, flag or anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years.
• The Polish official at the Checkers World Championship was simply doing his job when he removed the flag, but his actions were met with anger from the Kremlin and outrage on Russian social media.

The big picture: This could be a preview of what's to come in Tokyo this summer and Beijing next winter, as athletes and officials navigate a toxic situation they didn't create, but must now manage.

Of note ... The Russian player, Tamara Tansykkuzhina, ultimately won the nine-game world title over Poland's Natalia Sadowska, who removed her Polish flag in solidarity with her opponent.

🍿 Watch: "Icarus" (Netflix)

Courtesy: SeatGeek

Thanks to everyone who submitted trivia questions! Keep them coming! Here's one from Craig in Richmond, Virginia.

• Question: After Fenway Park (1912), Wrigley Field (1914) and Dodger Stadium (1962), what's the next oldest MLB ballpark?
• Hint: American League.

Answer at the bottom.

Minor League Baseball began its 2021 season on Tuesday, 595 days after the last one ended.

Coming tomorrow: We'll dive into the new-look minors, which is a far more fascinating, impactful story than it appears on the surface.