NHL Center Ice and land based phone line

You don't need a phone line. I and many others have had center ice for years with no phone line. I don't know why DirecTV still has this erroneous info on their web page.

I don't either, they still have the phone requirement in multiple places.  One guess though is to provide them an out if they suspect signal theft.  I believe the original intent of the phone connection was to be able to confirm that the boxes were in fact at the service address location.  Might still prove handy for the guy that orders 24 HD receivers, a minimum programming package and all of the pro sports packages.

Yes, that was the original objective. But so many people don't have a landline connection these days, it has outlived its usefulness...

Thanks for the responses guys.  On a side note, I now know why they say they still require land line connection.  I had emailed customer service regarding this issue and they finally responded. 

The land lines are 'required' to ensure game blackout restrictions.  If you do not HAVE a land line, you can still get the programming you just have to call cs and let them know and they will hard code your living area to blackout any games you shouldn't have access to.

So now we know...and knowing is half the battle...GEEE EYEEEEE JOOOOOEEEEEEE!!!!!

I don't think that's actually true.  I've never seen any reports of anyone without a landline having any more or less issues with blackout games. 

No, it simply isn't true. The CSR is just reading from a script somewhere (probably written by the same person that did the web site). Blackout restrictions are based on your service address and that's in the system, you don't need a phone line for that, and you don't need to call anyone.