As a member of the Houston Texans' in-house legal department over the past nearly five years, Sunil Jamal had a front-row seat to how an NFL team operates, whether public relations and medical needs or working with players and dealing with their contracts.

Now Jamal is using that experience to build a squad of his own at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC, where he recently returned to private practice to launch the firm's new sports and entertainment group.

Following an earlier stint at Baker Botts LLP, Jamal said providing legal support to the Texans was a "dream job" that allowed him to gain experience in a variety of practice areas beyond the mergers and acquisitions, private equity and capital markets work he had done before.

"It was such a rewarding experience, and I learned so much," Jamal said. "I was able to do a lot of things I hadn't done in the past, like healthcare, intellectual property and labor and employment. It was quite an interesting pivot."

While working in-house for a National Football League team was a welcome and enlightening challenge, Jamal said he is excited about building a practice group from scratch at a middle market firm that can offer high-level services to smaller or up-and-coming sports leagues, entertainers and more typical corporate clients.

"There are a lot of teams and leagues that aren't in the NFL, MLB or the NBA," Jamal said. "I saw it as an opportunity to go to Munsch Hardt, where we can provide that legal precision at a middle market rate to attract private equity investors, sports teams, entertainment companies and those sports-adjacent companies that need legal support."

Law360 Pulse recently sat down with Jamal to talk about his in-house experience and his plans to develop and grow a new practice group at Munsch Hardt. The responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What led you to choose Munsch Hardt for your return to private practice?

While I was at the Texans, we used Munsch Hardt as outside counsel. The people there are great to work with and did phenomenal work very efficiently.

The firm did not have a dedicated sports and entertainment group, and this will allow me to grow and build the practice with great support and people. Even though they have a Texas brand and have remained a middle market Texas firm, they have a lot of national clients.

That really attracted me because there are so many Texas sports teams and Texas investment opportunities in what I call the secondary sports sphere. There are so many opportunities in lacrosse, volleyball, pickleball and minor league baseball. They may not need an in-house lawyer or legal team, but they need legal support. And there are a lot of private equity investors interested in these, and we want to be at the forefront of that at Munsch Hardt.

The firm has lawyers in Houston, in Austin and Dallas who have done vending negotiations; stadium lease development; private equity; labor and employment; [and] name, image and likeness for college sports, which is going to be a huge market. We're putting those individuals together and solidifying it, formalizing the sports and entertainment practice.

What did you learn from your in-house experience that is beneficial to you in private practice?

I got an in-depth look at how a team operates as a business and how the franchises run internally and externally.

From their public relations standpoint, marketing and digital media, to the medical department, to dealing with players and player contracts and coaching and staff contracts. I can offer consulting from a unique perspective — for example, what to do after an acquisition of a franchise or a private equity investment. All those things that need to be done from organizational charts to finding the right people and resources.

The sports and entertainment landscape is so new and growing in a lot of ways, and there is not a lot of precedent. For example, pickleball — this is a sport that has really grown over the past five to 10 years. A few years ago, Major League Pickleball started and there were so many private equity investors jumping in.

There are so many other sports like that coming up that are growing in not just the number of fans, but in media rights and sponsorships. There are a lot of things that need to happen [in] growing a sports or entertainment business. Growing the media capabilities, growing the sponsorships in local communities, growing a team to build wealth in the future for private equity investors, we can help them do that.

Munsch Hardt has a stranglehold on this market with their competitive rates and legal acumen.

What advice would you give to lawyers interested in sports and entertainment work?

I've actually had a few younger lawyers reach out to me. It's an exciting space.

I think that what you see right now in 2025 is not what it's going to be in 2030, and now is the time to get in.

It's a niche market, but a lot of it is corporate work. With a sports team, when they're looking for outside counsel, they're looking for assistance in areas like labor and employment, real estate and sometimes litigation. There are a lot of ways to provide value that can be helpful to a team.

As we look to build out our practice group with associates and more partners, we're going to be looking for people with the right attitude to provide the fulsome legal services that a sports and entertainment client needs both from a legal advisory perspective and a business consultant position.

Munsch Hardt is a great firm with a great client base, and I'm very excited to launch and build this practice.