Philip Sinner on the Project „CoKoMeV (Covid-19, Kommunikation, Medien und Vereine)”

Dr. Philip Sinner leads the research project “CoKoMeV (Covid-19, Kommunikation, Medien und Vereine)” at ZeMKI. Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the overall study has been investigating how popular sports clubs in Germany and Austria have dealt with communication challenges. The focus is on how they have adapted their communication methods under changed conditions – for example, to maintain training operations or to fulfil their social role as non-profit organizations.

Although life has largely returned to normal for sports clubs after the pandemic, many of the digital forms of communication that were introduced have remained. At the same time, clubs are under new pressure – for example, from migration, rising energy costs as a result of the war in Ukraine and competition from commercial fitness providers with greater resources.

The project is therefore investigating how clubs can develop sustainable communication strategies in such crises and professionalize their handling of communication.

Why is the field of sports communication so relevant?

Sinner describes sports communication as diverse, up-to-date and dynamic. It often picks up on technological and social trends at an early stage – as seen in Australia with AI-generated soccer coverage. He is particularly fascinated by the range from the individual use of digital tools to the communication of large sports organizations, as well as the daily presence of sports-related content that combines information, entertainment and participation.

He also emphasizes the social importance of sport in a European context – not only as a place for performance, but also as a contribution to health, integration and cohesion. Sports clubs in particular act as places of integration, organized through voluntary work and self-administration – as the inclusion of “community-oriented sports club culture” in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage 2021 shows.

At the same time, rising costs for broadcasting rights, sponsorship and equipment highlight the economic relevance of sport, which is closely interwoven with political and social developments: from pandemics and climate crises to geopolitical conflicts. Topics such as doping, abuse, sportswashing and a lack of transparency at major events are critical areas for sports communication research.

What research results have already been achieved?

The project examines the communicative practices and (self-)expertization processes of popular sports clubs and fitness studios in the context of progressive mediatization. Some key findings are as follows:

• Before the pandemic, digitalization hardly played a role for over half of the sports clubs. The Covid-19 crisis acted as a catalyst, as clubs suddenly had to organize training operations and communication digitally – often without a strategy, but with a lot of improvisation (“learning by doing”).
• Over time, this led to the development of structured communication strategies. Clubs defined target groups, adapted their channels and reduced some of them again. Instagram is mostly used for external communication, while messengers such as WhatsApp dominate training operations. TikTok and Snapchat are increasingly being used to reach young people. Face-to-face meetings and traditional media such as telephone or notice boards (also digital) continue to play a role.
• Government funding and support from umbrella organizations (e.g. DOSB, ÖOC) helped with implementation. Ultimately, however, success depended heavily on the commitment and skills of individual members – for example in the production of digital content. Volunteering proved to be a key resource, which meant that popular sports clubs got through the pandemic better than many commercial fitness studios in terms of communication. However, the latter are now catching up, for example with their own apps – a service that many clubs still lack.
• Challenges remain even after the pandemic: The energy crisis has made it more difficult for many clubs to operate – e.g. due to restrictions on hot water, floodlights or pitch irrigation. Climate change affects winter sports clubs in particular, but also others whose infrastructure is affected by extreme weather conditions.
• The integration of new members and dealing with social diversity, which needs to be managed in a communicative manner, remains a key ongoing task – especially in times of overlapping crises.

Here you can find literature to dive depper into different aspects of sports communication:

Sinner, P. (2025). MeSort: Application, testing and further development of a qualitative computational sorting software to analyze media repertoires in organizational sports communication of clubs. IAMCR 2025 (Singapore) – Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet. Zusammen mit T. Neumann und J.-U. Nieland.

Sinner, P. (2025). Victims of Mediatization? Austrian Fitness Centers and Their (Social) Media Behavior After the COVID-19 Pandemic. 75th ICA Annual Conference (Denver) – ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research. Zusammen mit J.-U. Nieland und T. Neumann.

Sinner, P. (2025). Netzwerkkarten und eigenständige Sortierungen: Ein innovativer Ansatz zur Erforschung der Kommunikationsrepertoires und der Kommunikationsstrategien von Breitensportvereinen. In A. Hepp, F. Hohmann & P. Sinner (Hrsg.), Medien-, Daten- und Vernetzungspraktiken erforschen (im Druck). Springer VS.

Sinner, P., Nieland, J.-U., Nölleke, D., Seeger, C., Schallhorn, C., & Horky, T. (2024). Kommunikative Praktiken und Kommunikationsstrategien von Breitensportvereinen. Eine triangulative Befragungsstudie in Deutschland und Österreich. Journal für Sportkommunikation und Mediensport, 8(2), Special Issue – Sportkommunikation im Wandel, 84-105.

Schallhorn C., Seeger C., Horky T., Nölleke D., Sinner P., & Nieland J-U. (2024). Relationship Marketing während der COVID-19-Pandemie Kommunikationsstrategien und -prozesse in deutschen und österreichischen Sportvereinen. In J. Nieland, T. Horky (Hrsg.), COVID-19 und die Sportkommunikation. Der Einfluss der Corona-Pandemie auf Sport, Medien und Journalismus (S. 195 – 222). Springer VS.

Nieland, J.-U., Sinner, P., Schallhorn, C., Nölleke, D., Horky, T., & Seeger, C. (2024). Die kommunikative Figuration des mediatisierten Breitensports. Kommunikative Strategien österreichischer und deutscher Sportvereine als Antwort auf die Covid-19-Krise. In F. Kühnle & L. Franco (Hrsg.), Abstractband zur Jahrestagung 2024 der dvs-Sektion Sportsoziologie – Sportsoziologie als Krisenwissenschaft (S. 20). Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft.