Newbold was part of the League's equalisation touring party to the US last week, which met with executives from the three major American sports – the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Football League.
While AFL deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan said on Monday the League would look to "ramp up" and be "more assertive" on the issue in the wake of the trip, Newbold encouraged caution.
"[The US sports'] equalisation paths took a lot of time to get right, and that applies to us," Newbold told AFL.com.au.
"The structural changes that we may or may not make in this exercise will have a huge impact on this competition for the next 20 or 25 years, so it's worth spending the time to get it right.
"Let's not rush – we don't want to have to constantly revisit it.
"That's an important point for me – and I said it to the touring group – we need to take our time to get this right; we need to do the modelling on the various scenarios.
"I think there was general consensus to that view."
The Hawks president – whose club has, in recent years, become one of the most profitable in the AFL – said the trip had not changed his opinion that taxing rich clubs was not the best way to level the playing field for their smaller rivals.
"Our view is, let's not penalise the clubs who have done well," he said.
"Let's get the 'smaller clubs' better.
"Let's raise the water level so that all boats rise, rather than penalising some of the clubs and bringing them down.
"For me, that's common sense, and I think it's broadly accepted as something that makes sense.
"We don't want to hurt anyone. We just want those who are struggling to get better."
Newbold also reiterated his view that improved stadium arrangements held the key to solving the equalisation puzzle.
He pointed to the Western Bulldogs as a key example.
Bulldogs president Peter Gordon said at the club's season launch in March that they – along with fellow Etihad Stadium tenants St Kilda and North Melbourne – started each year $1 million behind the rest of the League due to their contract with Etihad Stadium.
The AFL will eventually take ownership of the Docklands ground, but not until 2025, unless it can reach an agreement to buy the venue earlier.
Newbold said ending unprofitable stadium arrangements had the potential to fix the problem altogether.
"I can only speak for myself, but I think there was broad acceptance that the stadium deals over there (in the US) amongst the clubs very much drive the economics, as it does here," he said.
"That's something (Collingwood president) Eddie McGuire and I have been pretty vocal on: sorting the stadia arrangements is critical to getting equalisation."
Newbold said he would be happy to continue as part of the working party on the issue, to help see the process through.
"There's general goodwill towards making the competition as competitive as we can," he said.
"It's just the methodology about how we go about it, recognising that there are some fundamental changes, and we should take our time to get them right."
