"Internally we have this phrase, ‘We’re just getting started": Amid Luke Littler effect, Winmau CEO sees darts in period of 'hypergrowth'

During a busy media day in London, Tom Brown, the relatively new CEO of the Nodor Group, the parent company behind Winmau and Red Dragon Darts, spoke with Online Darts. In a sport currently in an unprecedented growth phase, Brown is at the helm of two brands with over a century of combined history. His message throughout the conversation was consistent: growth, innovation, quality — and a belief that darts is still only scratching the surface.

Brown is no stranger to international business, having previously worked at companies such as TomTom and House of Fraser. Yet his move into darts is something he describes in simple terms.

“It’s fantastic. I mean, I think the industry of sport and darts is so fun to be in. I think the team that we have at Winmau and Red Dragon is phenomenal, loads of experience, lots of excitement, a huge winning mindset. Obviously, the entire sport is in massive growth. So you put that together, a team that has a winning mindset in an industry that is in growth, and it’s certainly an exciting place to be," he said to Online Darts.

While the sector may be different from retail or tech, he sees familiar foundations.

“Yeah, it’s definitely different. But the fundamentals are the same. We are focused on the consumer and the players. We’re focused on bringing satisfaction through high-quality products, through really influential and interesting marketing and communications, and of course bringing a lot of fun and development to our team at Nodor.”

What struck him most upon arrival was the heritage.

“Definitely better. There’s such unbelievable heritage here. I worked for a company called GN that celebrated being 150 years old when I was there, and now we have Nodor, which across the two brands is 106 years old. This really is a phenomenal business built over time with a huge amount of heritage in both brands. It’s known for quality. It’s known for being competitive. It’s known for working with the best players. And it’s a really exciting place to be.”

One of the headline announcements is a new ten-year agreement with the Professional Darts Corporation.

“Yeah, very important. But I think it was very mutual as well. Our Winmau boards are the best boards on the market, and the Blade X that we’ve announced today is the most premium, most advanced board ever launched. So I think for the PDC, hopefully it was a very easy choice. Of course, we have a history working with the PDC very well. We share the goal of growing the sport together. Yes, this is a commercial deal for both of us, but actually what it’s all about is how we grow the sport through JDC, amateur level, all the way up to the elite level. That’s what we share in terms of a common goal, delivering high-quality events by the PDC and high-quality products from Winmau.”

The pathway he refers to stretches from the Junior Darts Corporation through amateur structures and into the professional elite.

“Absolutely. You see the players coming through now and the talent that’s coming through has been enabled by that pathway. You see this in most other professional sports and now we see it in darts. That system is in place to deliver some of the highest-quality players around the world, and that really allows the sport to continue to grow. The sport is in hyper growth. It’s growing in the UK, it’s growing outside of the UK. More people are playing every year than ever before, and that’s really exciting.”

He is also candid about the commercial reality behind that growth.

“But talking about things not being available or delays, the growth of this industry has just been so huge. More and more people are playing darts than ever before. And it’s down to manufacturers like us to make sure that we are able to keep up with that demand. We are expanding our manufacturing capabilities. We’re able to make more boards, more darts, more surrounds, more accessories than ever before. And that’s our job, to keep up with demand.”

The technical centrepiece of the day was the launch of the Blade X, the latest evolution in the long-running Blade series.

“We want to make sure that we’re continually pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. With the Blade X, we have done exactly that. Winmau has been making Blade boards for 30 years. When the first Blade board came out, it completely changed the game in terms of quality, engineering, craftsmanship and performance. That’s really what Blade is all about. But we want to make sure there’s a Blade for everybody. So yes, of course, price plays a factor. We want people to have access to buying the Blade 6, which is our most affordable high-quality board, all the way up to now the Blade X, which is our most premium board ever launched.”

On the specifics, Brown went into detail. “Each board delivers additional technology, but really Blade X is in every area better than any other board that we’ve produced before. If we talk about one particular trend, and that is the length of points that players are using. Customisation is a really big thing for players now. People like to customise, the pros like to do it, the juniors like to do it, amateur, everyone likes to customise. Longer points put more pressure on the board. Blade X, with its hardwood backboard, has fibre length which is 13% longer than fibres of any other board. There are 5.5 million fibres in every board, and the fibres are longer in Blade X than on any other board. That allows longer points to go in without actually damaging the overall board. That really gives that quality, durability and reliability.”

The debate around aggressive points has been ongoing in professional darts. Brown’s view is clear.

“Players can use whatever they want, but the quality of our board means that they certainly don’t need to use these aggressive points. But should they do it, the quality of the board, the quality of the Kenyan sisal that goes into the board, the depth of the fibres, all of these things mean that the board will withstand the test of time. That’s why we put a five-year warranty on it. We’re really standing behind the quality of these boards.”

On that warranty, he clarified:

“Normal wear and tear is normal. If you’re hitting that triple 20 a lot, of course the board will show over time some wear and tear. This board will go longer before showing that wear and tear. However, if there’s any fault in the board, if anything goes wrong over time for up to five years, you’re able to give us a call, explain what’s gone wrong, we’ll have a quick evaluation and then we’ll swap the board out.”

Winmau has also introduced Switch Points, responding to players’ appetite for customisation.

“We will always do what the consumer wants. We need to deliver what the consumer wants, but we also need to think about what does the consumer want that they haven’t thought of yet? I don’t think any consumer was sat at home yesterday saying, ‘I wish Winmau would launch a really, really premium dartboard with all of these great features.’ But now they’ve seen it, I guarantee they’re sat there going, ‘I can’t live without buying the new Blade X.’ It’s our job to innovate ideas that the consumer and the players haven’t yet thought of. But in addition, we always have to listen to what the players want. The players do want more and more customisation, both on points and flights. Our Switch Points on our Winmau products were a first step. I would definitely expect us to take further steps across both brands.”

He sees experimentation as central to the modern game.

“Darts is a game of marginal gains. People want to see if they change that flight or they change that point, is their game slightly better? I really love that level of experimentation. Ten years ago, the majority of players were over 30. Now the majority of players are under 30. And we know that that under-30 demographic, they are more open to experiment and to try new things. And I really think that comes through in how they configure their darts.”

Inside the Bridgend headquarters, that experimentation is taken seriously.

“What we have at our office in Bridgend is the famous Winmau Red Dragon flight room. All of our players, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Gian van Veen, Jonny Clayton, they come into the flight room. They sit down with our head of manufacturing and design and his team, and they really spend time and spend hours trying different configurations, different points, different barrels, different flights, to get completely comfortable and to give them the confidence that they can go out and win.”

The return of the Winmau World Masters is another strategic moment.

“Huge. I’ve not been before, so this is my first time going live. I’ve heard it’s amazing and I can’t wait. I think it’s a phenomenal idea from the PDC to bring back the Winmau Masters as part of the partnership.”

He also highlighted the timing.

“There’s this moment where it really starts in October, November, and then coming into the Worlds there’s this huge surge of interest in darts. People want to play it. They play in the pub, they buy a dartboard, they get some new darts, they get some more points or flights or whatever it is. And then as we come into the new year, what’s very important is they’ve got something to keep that momentum. Now we’ve got this tournament at the end of January, which means people that got into the sport in December and early January, they’ve got another moment to see their favourite players play and to keep that interest and that momentum alive.”

A major strategic step has been the acquisition of Autodarts.

“The amazing thing about Autodarts is there is a huge community there. It is one of the most accurate, if not the most accurate auto-scoring products available, delivering 99.2% accuracy now, which is proven. So it is a phenomenal product with a huge following and a massive amount of users. For now, what we’re doing is supporting that business because we’re a large organisation, but we’re supporting the growth of that business. And then over time, let’s see what comes.”

He sees technology as especially important for younger players.

“I have young kids and my seven-year-old struggles with the scoring. So anything that can help him with the maths and scoring is an advantage. Technology helps. And a lot of brands are going into schools and taking darts into schools to help as part of maths and arithmetic. The sport is now reaching areas far beyond watching a couple of guys play on TV. This really now is becoming a movement.”

On geography, the approach is pragmatic.

“We want to go where the players are passionate about the product. We see it in the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, China, Australia, to an extent in the US and Canada. The UK is the most mature market. The US is a much more immature market in terms of interest, but there are millions of players there. It’s the same with China. These are really countries that we’re thinking about, how to take our next step.”

And as for the ceiling of the sport? " At the moment, we’re definitely far off it. Internally we have this phrase, ‘We’re just getting started.’ The UK is the most mature country and it’s still seeing exponential growth. Then you look at other markets like the US or China or Australia, it’s an incredibly immature market, but you just look at the addressable market. How far can this go? I think we’ve definitely got a very, very long way before we find out.”