Brian Burke has condemned ESPN's declaration that Toronto is the worst city for professional sports teams in North America.
"I don't think ESPN knows squat about Canada; I don't think they know squat about hockey," the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager told reporters on Monday.
The fighting words come in response to news that Toronto took the lowest spot in the American sport broadcaster's fan satisfaction survey of professional sport franchises across North America.
ESPN based the standings on how a city's pro-sport franchises in baseball, football, hockey and basketball gives back to fans "in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them."
The rankings were determined by fans who voted online in categories such as fan relations, affordability and stadium experience.
After criticizing the rankings, Burke admitted that Toronto teams could work harder to fill seats.
He pointed to when the Toronto Blue Jays were World Series champions and said he remembered seeing the baseball stadium completely full.
On the ESPN survey, the Blue Jays were ranked the fourth worst team in Major League Baseball.
"Our teams have to give the fans more to cheer about here," he said.
When all of ESPN's fan satisfaction categories are combined, Toronto earned the lowest average score when compared to other cities like Detroit, Dallas and Minnesota.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who are still facing a 44-year long Stanley Cup drought, ranked as one of the worst teams in terms of affordability.
Toronto's Raptors didn't fare much better. They were named the third worst basketball team in the NBA.
Still, Burke dismissed the ESPN standings as "absurd and offensive."
"This is a great sports town," he said.
The top franchise of the year was the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
