Remember that over the past 10 years or so the PDGA brought 3-4 events in each of around 8 regions into the NT realm. Events in each region would rotate so they had a year or two break to fund raise for their next turn in the NT circuit. While Dodge has done a great job acquiring new sites, several of his events were formerly occasional NT events that are conveniently in the same region where the NT is scheduled, making it easier to plug DGPT events to flow with the NT circuit. Not knocking it but just pointing out he did an excellent job planning his routing and schedule with NTs in mind.
Something else with regard to the regions that rotated events...those events weren't always at the same time of year. So the Midwest region event might be in June one year then August the next. There were definitely some significant gaps in the NT schedule in which most of the "touring" players scattered around rather than consistently following the same path. I can see what cjman is getting at with the DGPT helping to make a more cohesive tour geographically. Yes, it piggy-backs a bit on the NT, but on the other hand, the NT has become more consistent as well (less rotation) as the DGPT has allowed more events to elevate to "tour" level rather than being mere A-tiers that might pull in a handful of otherwise scattered touring players.
Just look at the 2014 NT/Pro Major schedule:
Date of last day of tournament, tournament, location
March 1, Memorial, Scottsdale AZ
March 23, Texas States, Round Rock TX
May 18, Masters Cup, Santa Cruz CA
June 7, Japan Open, Japan
June 22, KC Wide Open, Kansas City MO
July 6, Maple Hill Open, Leicester MA
July 20, European Masters, Sweden
August 3, Ft Steilacoom Open, Steilacoom WA
August 16, Pro Worlds, Portland OR
August 31, Hambrick Memorial, Columbus OH
Sept 7, Rochester Flying Disc Open, Rochester NY
Large gaps in the schedule (2 months between Texas and Masters), then a huge flurry of events every two weeks that criss-cross the country and a couple oceans...CA to Japan to KC to MA to Sweden to WA to OR to OH to NY. That was not conducive at all to successfully staying on the road for anyone but the folks at the very top of the game. Especially if they're trying to fill the gaps with an A or B tier where the payout might be barely above minimum standards and winning is required to do better than break even.
The strides the DGPT has made in filling gaps and forcing a better geographic path through the schedule (by locking into most of their events and dates), not to mention increasing the money, in just four years has resulted in a lot more players being able to stay on the road. Where there were once a dozen or so full time road warriors living hand to mouth, now we're talking 2-3 dozen traveling in a bit more comfort.
