Not always.
I can watch baseball for free on television or I can go to the ballpark and pay to see it in person.
You pay in the first instance by way of constant commercial interruptions. (And if you wait and DVR it to remove the commercials, it's not really comparable to a live game you can visit in person anymore)
Have you been to a baseball game lately? Ads are everywhere.
Anyway, when I can, I watch baseball on the MLB streaming service where there are very few ads. Usually, they just blank out the screen during the commercial time which is almost as annoying.
That's essential to the definition of competition, yes.