Newbold noted with interest a Fairfax Media report on Monday, which showed the Western Bulldogs received $2.8 million in future-fund distributions last year, with Melbourne being given an extra $2.27 million from the same source. St Kilda received an additional $3.8 million from the AFL in 2014.

The introduction of the revenue tax this year will mean power clubs Hawthorn, Collingwood and West Coast will each tip in a maximum of $500,000 to a collective pool, with a handful of other clubs expected to follow, but on a sliding scale.

What is likely to be an overall distribution of about $4.5 million, separate to the introduction of the "soft" football-department tax, will be reviewed at the end of the 2016 season.

However, with the injection of money to be distributed to clubs already receiving hand outs, Newbold is worried what it will mean for the likes of the Magpies and Hawks.

"My real fear ... which is everyone's fear, I think I speak for everyone, but you are just reducing all the clubs to being break even," he said.

"All you are doing is making it hard for Hawthorn and Collingwood and West Coast and these other clubs to make a profit. We will still endeavour to do that.

"That's why the review at the end of the two years is critical, I reckon. It's important that we have all the facts when we are doing the review.

"I will be arguing that we should scrap the revenue share, but they (AFL) are doing it anyway. Why take off us and give to others when they are just handing it out? In effect, they are doing the same thing. It's just another clip of the ticket, isn't it?"

The Hawks posted a $3.4 million profit last season, but point out the "margins" remain tight, even considering the success the club has enjoyed recently, playing in three straight grand finals, and winning the last two.

While the Saints, Bulldogs and North Melbourne were among those given extra funds, club bosses say tough home-ground contracts with Etihad Stadium have hampered their attempts to turn a profit, while allowing the AFL to be in a position to purchase the venue, possibly as early as this year. The AFL will automatically take charge of the stadium in 2025 for a token $30.

Newbold suggested clubs would ask the AFL for a clear assessment of its books to check whether savings could be made at league headquarters.

"I think the critical point is this two-year review; we have set it in stone for this year and next. No one is going to go back on it, but I would have thought there is going to be a fierce debate on what it looks like 2017 onwards, especially with the recasting of the broadcast rights," he said.

"I would have thought we would be saying to the AFL, 'Let's see what you are doing in terms of your own budget'. I would have thought they would want clubs to be successful and well run and making a dollar and looking after their people and members. You can't do that if you don't have money."

The revenue-sharing tax came about after former league chief Andrew Demetriou and a group of club and league executives, including Newbold, toured the US last year.

However, as Newbold pointed out, private ownership of teams and stadiums in the US has owners keen to make a profit for their own good.

"All the money we make goes back into what we are trying to do. No one is driving a new Porsche at the end of the year. That's the difference between us and the American experience and that's why the context needs to be carefully considered," he said.

"While we adopt these US policy settings, we need to be careful the context is the same, and it isn't."

Newbold and Collingwood counterpart Eddie McGuire successfully pushed for the revenue tax to be capped at $500,000.

The Swans received about $12 million in AFL funding last year but chief executive Andrew Ireland has pointed out that included the Cost of Living Allowance, which the AFL supplied, and had no impact on the club's $846,000 profit.

The separate luxury tax, applied to money spent over a "soft" cap on football-department spending, is also limited to $1 million a club for 2015-16.