I think that attract-mode has currently few users, may be due, as you said, to a lack of layouts.
But when i crawl arcade dedicated boards, i never see a mention of attract.
It always a maximus versus hyperspin, with some mala or gamex discussions..
Currently, two frontend are really active : attract-mode and hardcade, in my POV.
so, yes, maybe this kind of contest may help, but may be we should work on some "evangelism" in other boards too