I went through a pretty strong ST:TNG phase in the mid-to-late 90s (and I will still stop on BBC America whenever I see its on), but Star Wars was always there in the background. I would agree with other respondents that it wasn’t a big thing in the early 90s - it was just sort of there. Once the SEs were released and Lucas announced production on the PT, the pop culture juggernaut that we know today kicked into afterburner and hasn’t really let up.
I recall pumping a metric shit-ton of hours into Tie Fighter (on 3.5" floppy!), Dark Forces, and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II - one of the first great multi-player experiences on the internet.
I also think that because people who grew up on the films are now adults has a lot to do with the superfandom it has today. They’re buying tickets and making their kids watch these movies who want to buy toys and dress up for Halloween…rince, repeat.
This. A thousand times over, this. The whole “fly your freak flag” thing that’s so en vogue today was definitely not a thing in 90s. If you were a nerd, you were a dork and treated as such. Mainstream primetime shows didn’t reference Star Wars and other nerd-culture stuff every five minutes like they do today. But now, the children of the 80s and 90s are producing content, especially with the internet, which is why you have mainstream stuff like Family Guy and The Big Bang Theory. The degree to which Star Wars permeates all forms of media these days is absolutely incredible. I could be wrong, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find many, if any, Star Wars references in shows like Seinfeld and Friends.