• BT Sport launch £897million Champions League coverage on Tuesday 
• Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard unveiled as pundit for channel 
• He joins Rio Ferdinand as ex-Man United star is announced as lead analyst
• Gary Lineker also arrives at the channel as Champions League presenter 
• The broadcaster holds exclusive three-year deal to screen the competition 
• 351 Champions League and Europa League matches will be free for BT TV customers… BT Broadband subscribers with Sky to be charged £5-a-month
• Harry Redknapp, Glenn Hoddle and Howard Webb also join broadcaster
• Sky Sports chief takes dig at BT Sport over Champions League TV deal

By

Phil Duncan for MailOnline

and
Charles Sale for MailOnline

Published:
08:58 GMT, 9 June 2015

|
Updated:
10:49 GMT, 9 June 2015

Steven Gerrard has been unveiled as a Champions League pundit for BT Sport as the broadcaster kicks off their exclusive coverage of European football’s premier competition. 

BT Sport will screen both the Champions League and Europa League next season after signing an unprecedented £897million three-year deal. 

They have revealed that 351 matches will be free-to-air for customers who subscribe to BT TV. 

Those with Sky, but have BT Broadband, will be charged £5 extra a month. BT Sport however, are yet to reveal how much it will cost fans without BT Broadband. The BT Sport package available for non-BT Broadband customers cost £13.50 per month last season, but this is expected to rise in the wake of BT’s blockbuster deal.  

Gary Lineker will front BT Sport’s Champions League coverage from next season after joining the channel 

Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand have joined Lineker and former England manager Glenn Hoddle at BT Sport 

Steven Gerrard, pictured alongside Luis Suarez has been unveiled as a surprise pundit for BT Sport 

A minimum of 12 Champions League games and 14 Europa League matches will be available to anyone to watch for free via a new channel called BT Sport Showcase.

Each participating British team will be shown at least once. Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal will take part in next season’s Champions League. Manchester United and Celtic will also be in the tournament providing they successfully negotiate their qualifying ties. 

Ferdinand, the former United and England defender, has been unveiled as at lead analyst for the channel. Former Liverpool captain Gerrard, who is set to move to LA Galaxy, was surprisingly unveiled as a pundit for the broadcaster. 

Former Tottenham and West Ham manager Harry Redknapp, Glenn Hoddle, the former England boss, and retired referee Howard Webb have also joined the brodcaster. Gary Lineker has been unveiled as a presenter for the channel alongside current host Jake Humphrey. 

John Petter, chief executive of BT Consumer, said: ‘When we launched BT Sport we promised to make televised football far more accessible and affordable than it has been to date. We have opened the market to millions of new customers and we want to build on that as BT Sport becomes the undisputed home of European football.

‘We are of course giving our best offer to existing customers – broadband customers will get the new BT Sport Pack for the heavily discounted price of £5 whilst customers who take broadband and TV from us will get it absolutely free.

‘This is a new chapter for European football on TV. BT Sport will show hundreds of live matches throughout the tournament using the very latest technology. Our presenters and experts will also provide the smartest insight and analysis.’ 

On the eve of BT’s glitzy launch Sky Sports chief Barney Francis fired the opening shot in the latest battle with their rivals by claiming that viewers’ interest in Europe’s flagship Champions League is on a rapid slide.

Writing in his blog, Francis argued that the Champions League — which BT snatched from Sky and ITV — was not the valuable asset it once was. He said it accounted for just 2.5 per cent of Sky Sports’ viewing figures and claimed the Barclays Premier League was ‘seven times bigger’.

Sky say their Champions League final coverage produced disappointing figures, but it was popular on ITV

Jose Mourinho helped to launch BT Sport’s new television coverage but Sky say it is not too valuable

Francis said: ‘Over the last five seasons we have seen Champions League audiences fall 38 per cent. Last season we saw our lowest ever average match audience and not a single European game appeared in our top 40 football matches.

‘In football, it’s the intense rivalry of our domestic competitions that matters most to customers. You only have to look at the viewing figures to see the evidence.’ 

Earlier, Ferdinand had exchanged in some pleasantries with new host Lineker ‘Just prepping for the big launch today,’ tweeted Ferdinand alongside a picture of him hoisting the European Cup in 2008 for United.

Lineker, the Match of the Day presenter, replied: ‘I’m in the area, might pop and say hello.’ Ferdinand said: ‘Are you late fella?!?! Tut tut!’ 

Lineker and Humphrey have history with each other from the launch of BT Sport two years ago.

It started when Humphrey wrote a blog that said: ‘I believe the audience need incisive analysis delivered by current or recently retired players who can empathise with current stars of sport.’

Lineker took this to be a dig at Match of the Day pundits Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson. He tweeted Humphrey: ‘Be careful Jakey in the choice of your words.’

A bemused Humphrey responded: ‘I’m sorry Gary, you seem to have found offence where none was intended.’

But Lineker had the last word, saying: ‘Apology accepted on behalf of those you know you would have offended. People with a lifetime’s experience in the game and TV.’ 

Lionel Messi parades the Champions League trophy after Barcelona beat Juventus in Saturday’s final 

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