London — Millions of UK-based football fans will tune in to watch the finals of Europe’s elite club competitions this week — and not only because all four competing teams are English. Telecoms and pay-TV group BT, currently the only British television broadcaster to screen live matches from the Champions League and the Europa League, is making both showpiece events free-to-air, including on its YouTube channel, to appease sponsors unhappy at BT’s low subscriber numbers according to analysts. London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea contest the Europa League final in Baku on Wednesday, followed by English Premier League peers Liverpool and Tottenham in the more prestigious Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday. BT’s free offering is a repeat of last season when they made Liverpool’s Champions League final against Real Madrid, which the English team lost, available also to nonsubscribers, helping the financially troubled broadcaster to pull in millions more viewers. A total of 8.5-mil...
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