BT to offer Champions League soccer to TV customers for free

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Britain's BT said on Tuesday it would offer Champions League soccer matches to new and existing customers of its TV service for free, and to its broadband subscribers for 5 pounds a month, as it ramps up the pressure on arch rival Sky. BT outbid Sky by paying 897 million pounds ($1.4 billion) for a three-year package of matches, including glamour ties such as Juventus versus Barcelona. The move was the latest huge bet in BT's strategy to use premium sports programming as a peg to sell its core services of superfast broadband and build a TV service. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Paul Sandle)