The Portland Timbers began their second season in Major League Soccer with a resounding 3-1 win against visiting Philadelphia Monday night before another full house at Jeld-Wen Field in Oregon. The Timbers have quickly evolved into one of the signature club operations in M.L.S. and burst into popular culture with a spot on the hipster satire TV show “Portlandia.” The video clip is above. There is a lot more to the Timbers than a shout-out on TV — the producers contacted the club and worked with the supporters group, Timbers Army in a natural fit for the club. Episode 8 of the show’s second season included cameos by the “Laverne & Shirley star” Penny Marshall and the Trail Blazer player LaMarcus Aldridge, and featured members of the rabid Timbers Army.

For Merritt Paulson, the owner of the Timbers, tall this is only one indication of soccer’s arrival — and his team’s promise on the field. Paulson spoke from Portland by telephone with Jack Bell of The Times before the club’s season-opener.

Q.

At the outset, I would like to ask your reaction to the spot on “Portlandia.”

A.

They approached us. I thought it was great. It was obviously comedic, but I think any time you get shots of the stadium, a full stadium on a national outlet it’s a positive. I was amused. We allowed them to use some of our footage. And we let their cameras in to do some shooting as well. They shot the little bit where their characters were doing the chant, the Meow chat. It didn’t happen at a game, but they used members of Timbers Army to do that. They set up a casting call for members to shoot that separately.

Q.

It’s seems so easy for TV shows to take shots at soccer and it seems that’s what they like to do on something like “30 Rock.”

A.

I think that’s more the Alex Baldwin character on “30 Rock,” and I take that tongue in cheek. I believe he’s a fan, too. “Portlandia” handled it well, and it clearly it wasn’t lampooning the city or its interest in soccer.

Q.

How do you follow up an inaugural season in M.L.S. like the Timbers had last year?

A.

One way is we go out and get a guy like Kris Boyd [who scored a goal Monday night]. It was a strange deal, quite unusual in that it happened very quickly. How it works in the single entity with M.L.S. is that Houston had discovery rights on Kris. He’s 28, not old by any means. He has the most goals all-time in the Scottish Premier League with Rangers, but had gone to Turkey for huge money. The team was unable to pay him, which is kind of ironic when you look at the position Rangers are in right now. It think he played in only two games last season, a waste. He didn’t want to sign with Houston due to the weather, that’s my understanding. He was probably going to go to Liverpool. The transfer window was closing and we had a short time to get the rights from Houston and do a deal with Kris. It was a week-long sprint. [Timbers Coach John] Spencer is the brother-in-law of Billy Davies, who coached Nottingham Forest and had coached the guy. John knew Kris had played for Billy. And when we were doing our due diligence, we decided is this a guy we want to put out big money for. We didn’t need to scout the guy that much. It was about character and leadership.

Last year we got [Diego] Charra, which was a four- or five-month process. He’s only 25 and a box-to-box midfielder. We now have five players from Colombia. Charra’s a D.P. who we bought at a substantial number.

Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian

Q.

What kind of calculus do you use when looking at a designated player and how do you think it’s been done around the league?

A.

We’re at a point in time where I would say … when there was a time when a lot of teams thought as much about the marketing value of a player as what the player brought to the team, in terms of making the team better on the field. At this point in time when looking at designated players, many are younger and might not have household names yet, but they bring a heck of a lot of quality. The focus has been on the M.L.S. Cup winning team, with [David] Beckham, Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. The Galaxy are unique. It worked for them. It brought a lot of quality on to the field and to marketing. Now, I think, there’s a bit of a move and focus toward the product on the field. There’s a sophisticated soccer audience here, the league is at a totally different point right now, growing the last 17 years. I tell people — and it’s not hyperbole — that I don’t know of a sports property in the world that has the growth potential that M.L.S. has. We’ve reached a tipping point in the United States and it’s really exciting to be part of it.

I’m in the nexus, the hub of that in the Pacific Northwest. There’s a rabid soccer following now around the league. Look at Houston, they’ve sold 10,000 season tickets. Kansas City and Philadelphia just keep picking up. Montreal will be successful. There’s been a lot of growth and Don Garber and the rest of ownership have been careful in managing, spending and building for the long term. But now the real priority is to get the level of play up, and make this the best league in the Western Hemisphere and one of the best leagues in the world.

Q.

Last year, you had about 2,000 seats that were covered with a tarp, with obstructed views I believe. You opened them up for this season increasing potential attendance to about 20,000. What went into those decisions?

A.

We opened all the seats in North End, and have very few that are tarped. We have 7,000 people on our waiting list for season tickets. If we had 25,000 seats we would be sold out every game. We’re costing ourselves money with seats covered with tarps. But we worry about the fan experience if things are too congested in the concourses. We built out the east side of the facility and it’s fairly open. But we’re dealing with a 1926 structure with narrow concourses. That’s why the tarp was there. At halftime it is a bit tight on the concourses, but it’s manageable now. Last year we were at roughly 18,000 a game, this year it’s 20,300. Another 1,500-2,000 seats are still covered. We’ll see how it goes.

Q.

With all the support and success, were you tempted to raise ticket prices?

A.

We kept over 80 percent of season tickets at the same prices. We did raise prices on single-game tickets. It’s a long-term thing for me. Even with all success last year, an exciting team that narrowly missed the playoffs, I didn’t feel right going crazy with season ticket prices.

Q.

The Timbers’ success is undeniable. But now looking back, do you ever second-guess yourself about renovating an older stadium in the downtown area as opposed to trying to build something new, perhaps outside the city?

A.

We never would have been able to do a new stadium in the heart of city. What we got is a terrific facility. Renovation made a facility that had been a jack of many trades and master of none into a unique, high-quality soccer stadium. Of course in a new stadium we would have wider concourses, some more seats, probably. That said, to be in heart of the city on the west side, with light rail everywhere, that’s something I wouldn’t trade for all the tea in China. If you build me a Livestrong Sporting Park in Hillsboro, about 20 minutes outside Portland, I wouldn’t take the trade.

Q.

There has been so much talk about a second team in the New York area. Only last week Don Garber spent a lot of time addressing it in a conference call. Where do you come down on the matter?

A.

We’re all in this together. We all have an interest in getting expansion right. I do think about New York and expansion like every other owner. I appreciate the league’s cautious approach — they know how important it is. It’s been a three-pronged decision: the market, stadium and ownership. Getting the stadium right in New York is going to be essential. And I know how many sites Don and the league have been looking at, it’s a big decision. And there’s a lot of interest elsewhere around the country.

I think I’d share the commissioner’s view that New York makes sense on a lot of levels, but we’ve got to get it right. That means getting the facility right. From a league perspective there are few things as important as getting expansion right. I think the league has done a great job. A second team in New York in the right stadium makes all the sense in the world.

Steve Dykes/Getty Images

Q.

So you didn’t increase ticket prices. But where do you hope to increase revenue?

A.

One of things that have been most heartening to me, we’ve set a record for sponsors’ revenue for an expansion team in M.L.S. and we’re up 15 percent this year over last year. People get what a unique platform this is. It resonates despite the difficult economy. We had 98 percent retention of season-ticket holders and 93 percent of sponsors. So those are really strong numbers. They get that we’re a first-year team coming off a terrific year and that this is a really great platform. We’re building out our catering business, camps and hosting other events at the stadium. We’re taking a conservative approach relative to ticket pricing. In the current market conditions it’s important to have tickets that offer a great value. Mostly the business has obviously surpassed expectations.

Q.

Did you make money last year? And if not, will you this year?

A.

We are cash-flow positive, and in this world it is a terrific thing. We put a lot of money into it, not just the team, renovating the stadium. It might be a long time to say we made a profit. If you look at the money between the cost of team, the extra millions put into the stadium and practice facility — on an operating level we were profitable.

There are a lot more teams that are now cash-flow positive. A fair number of teams are losing money, but now they’re not losing a lot of money. From sports standpoint not many leagues can say that.

Q.

Where do you think the league and the game are going in the U.S. and North America?

A.

I think we’ve got more growth and blue skies ahead than any other league. Where we were and where we are — the league is growing and will become increasing relevant in a country of soccer fans. For fans, this is turning into a league that’s their home league. I’m not going to fall into the trap of saying we’re going to overtake X or Y sport. It’s not about that. There’s plenty of room at the table. But there’s a lot more growth ahead of Major League Soccer than most of the mature leagues. We’re relevant now and we’re going to get more [relevant].

Q.

The league is in the first year of a new TV deal with NBC. You’ve got good exposure on other networks and online, but for TV, the ratings don’t seem to be following the availability and the interest of fans. Are those low ratings a concern? Is there a disconnect?

A.

There’s a ratings issue for every league when look at what media world is today. There’s increasing fragmentation, and it’s not like ratings are going up across the board for any type of programming. We’re making sure there’s variety on TV and online. We’re making sure we’re hitting more eyeballs.