Well, let's also be clear about some harsh realities here. Backgammon is always going to be seen in the same light as checkers. It just is. No matter how big the following, it's never going to be chess or have that sort of following. It's pretty much seen as a beginner's game that you keep around because it's easy to teach and play. We know differently, but that takes exposure. If anyone here doubts that, just look at the OVERWHELMING number of reviews of virtually any even remotely decent backgammon game. They're flooded with cries of cheating dice rolls and that's simply due to no one believing that backgammon could possibly be played that well. They used to win at it all the time and now a computer program hoses them so they swear it must be cheating -- yet the same people would not act the same way about a chess program beating them. Chess is "complicated" so of course a computer can beat them.
That's the big challenge for backgammon apps today. They're all over the place, generally free and lowly-regarded. Gaining market share in that sort of environment is a tough climb.