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BT steps up pay-TV battle with European soccer offer

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LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Britain's BT will offer Champions League European soccer matches to customers of its TV service for free, and to its broadband subscribers for 5 pounds ($7.60) a month, it said on Tuesday, as it ramps up the pressure on arch-rival Sky.

BT outbid Sky by paying 897 million pounds for a three-year package of matches, allowing it to show games between top European teams such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.

The move was the latest huge bet in BT's strategy to use premium sports programming as a peg to sell its fast broadband service and build a TV business.