If we go back to the 1940s and 50s, we kids (then) did yell, scream and cheer and emotionally respond to on-screen movie events at western movies. We flinched when we saw Johnny Mack Brown or Red Rider get socked, made fists and tiny hand and arm gestures as they fought back. Our hearts pounded when the villains tied sweet and defenseless women to the railroad tracks, until they were rescued. Yes, we counted on our heroes to save the victims and defeat the villains.
And as we got older we really realized that movies weren't real, and the people in the movies were there to collect paychecks for their work, and the actors and actresses who played the role of the villains, the heroes and the victims were just wearing costumes and may have actually been good friends in real life.
But maybe not all of us :)
Sports are a bit different, the players are really competing (usually) and not acting, and we emotionally attach to their successes and losses. I don't know about how everyone else reacts, but I find myself holding my breath as I see a golf roll towards the hole until it starts to convincingly looks like it will or will not go into the hole. Then a sense of "wow", or "ohhh no", or with a basketball shot at the buzzer, or a long field goal, or a 50 yard pass on a 4th and one. Will that be the play of the day, or the mistake of the day that gave the other team a short field for the winning score?
Unlike in movies, we usually get to see players shake hands after the games. The coaches embrace and whisper something in one another's' ears. Players who may be on opposites teams today but once played together as teammates greet and chat, ask about one another' families, and maybe advice on how to grow bigger tomatoes in their gardens. After all, it's just a game, and while we may invest a bit of our own emotions in a particular game, it's just for a few minutes. Win or lose, there is no serious emotion beyond empathy I feel for participants.
