Greg Hall and Ivan Dean - former Legislative Councillors, former mayors and members of the working group for Tasmania's AFL team bid - have come out against the move.
Mr Dean said the transfer - endorsed 8-4 by councillors - was ill-timed.
He said several details were still due to be ironed out, like the terms sheet which details the specifics of the handover, that councillors and the community had questions over.
"I think the council have made a hasty decision," he said.
"If you can't get answers to questions that are concerning you, to make a decision before those matters are put to bed raises risk issues."
The transfer of ownership away from the council was recommended after a review of the current model by KPMG in 2019.
]The council commissioned the review and in 2021 it endorsed the York Park Future Directions Plan, which recommended the creation of a trust to manage the stadium, but also considered a statutory authority model.
]
Stadiums Tasmania was created as such an authority in 2022.
Mr Hall said the memorandum of understanding between the state government and the City of Launceston regarding future AFL content at the stadium - a non-binding agreement - was a "sop to the North".
I think the government has decided it needed to give heart to the people here," he said.
"I think it's a sop to the North."
He said by handing ownership of the venue over to the state government the council was "giving away the crown jewels" and weakened the region's bargaining power when it came to securing future sporting content at the stadium.
Both men said the issues came back to decision to build a tier one stadium at Macquarie Point, which was linked to the state's AFL team bid, whereas York Park was tier two.
Mr Dean said although the North was historically the powerhouse of football, it would be consigned to the "poorhouse" as sporting bodies responsible for basketball, soccer and cricket focused their efforts on the South.
"In the beginning whilst that's been built we'll still get a few games here in Launceston," Mr Dean said.
"After that they will be supporting the stadium in Hobart.
"They'll give games to Launceston that unfortunately won't bring in the same types of people that come and stay a weekend, or stay a few nights."
The council has said the stadium operates at a net loss, despite generating in excess of $30 million in economic activity for the wider region.
Mr Hall said this would likely diminish, as crowd figures showed people preferred York Park which had an all-time attendance record of 20,971 people, compared to a record of 18,149 at Hobart's Bellerive Oval.
"A lot of people will plan the year, they'll look at the AFL roster, and they'll go to Melbourne," he said.
"We've got three airports this way, there's the Spirit of Tasmania.
"It's no more expensive or harder than spending all your time on the road, and you can catch a couple of games."
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