Sport continues to enjoy growing international interest as evidenced through increased attendance and media coverage during international competitions. It is likely this trend will continue, fueling the global growth of sport management programs to address the international need for professionals prepared to support and manage sport. The following organizations were formed to advance the research and development of these academic programs: the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), the European Association for Sport Management (EASM), and the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand (SMAANZ). Each of these organizations hosts an annual professional conference with the intention of promoting and encouraging the exchange of research and scholarly ideas. An Asian Association of Sport Management is now forming. Pitts (2000), Slack (1996), and Paton (1987), when discussing the sport management academic literature, encouraged critical examination and assessment of research content. The purpose of this study was to investigate the body of knowledge presented during the professional annual conferences of the NASSM, EASM, and the SMAANZ, providing both a critical and cross-cultural examination of sport management research. These annual conferences serve as the primary forum for the exchange of contemporary scholarly ideas associated with sport management in each of these respective global regions. This study involved a descriptive analysis of the conference presentations in 2000, 2001, and 2002 for the NASSM, EASM, and SMAANZ annual professional meetings (EASM and SMAANZ 2002 to be held this fall). A comparative content analysis methodology was conducted and the 10 NASPE - NASSM Sport Management core content standards (NASPE-NASSM Joint Task Force, 1993) were established as the categories to which each presentation was assigned. Several interesting similarities and well as divergent and unique trends were observed. For all three organizations there were a high number of Marketing core content area presentations, while the Ethics and Communication core content areas were low. The SMAANZ and EASM presenters shared an interest in tourism and leisure based sport management. The EASM researchers focused on Governance core content including sport federations, national sport systems, sport clubs and Leadership, while the NASSM presenters favored Legal core content, venue and event management, and the collegiate sport, gender and diversity aspects of the Socio-Cultural core. The findings of this research revealed emerging topics with global research application as well as unique federal trends. The 10 NASPE-NASSM core content areas were represented to varying degrees in the presentations of each global region.