San Antonio's USAA, which in '09 signed a 10-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of the annual Army-Navy football game, "claims in a lawsuit that the Military Times website has falsely passed off Navy Federal Credit Union as game sponsor," according to Patrick Danner of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. USAA is "suing Gannett Media Technologies Inc. and Times News Group Inc." A subsidiary of Gannett Co. Inc. "publishes the Military Times." The suit "seeks unspecified financial compensation, including punitive damages." USAA "alleges in its suit that a banner ad at the top of the website militarytimes.com/blogs/armynavy last week read 'Army Navy 2011 Presented by Navy Federal Credit Union.'" Judge Barbara Nellermoe "granted USAA a temporary restraining order that prevents Gannett and Times News Group from publishing that the 2011 Army-Navy Game is presented or sponsored by Navy Federal Credit Union." Gannett attorney Barbara Wall said in a statement that the suit "was without merit but nonetheless the Military Times made revisions to the website." She added that USAA has "agreed to file a motion to dissolve the court order." Wall: "The Military Times website did not infringe USAA's rights, nor did it contain misleading references to the Army Navy game's sponsor." USAA Public Affairs Dir Roger Wildermuth said that all "unauthorized ads have been yanked from the website" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 12/9). USAA ran a full-page ad in USA Today Friday promoting its sponsorship of the Army-Navy game (THE DAILY).
